Current News
11.11.2014
Søknadslevering
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.11.2014
BRITDOC’s Impact Producer Lab in Finland
In preparation for Good Pitch Europe in the Nordic countries, BRITDOC is hosting an Impact Producers Lab in Finland from January 7th-9th 2015, specifically for Nordic professionals. Closing date for applications is 21st November 2014.
We are looking for anyone from the Nordic countries eager to learn more about how to use documentary film as a tool for social or environmental change. We are looking to work with eight established Nordic professionals from the worlds of film, campaigning, journalism, politics and marketing & PR.
The Good Pitch programme connects the world’s best social justice films with new allies and partners, offering new funding and distribution opportunities. The model has spread around the world over the last seven years as the global community looks for new and sustainable opportunities to support independent documentary filmmaking.
Read more >
10.11.2014
Status for ytringsfriheten i Norge - avslutningskonferanse og lansering av hovedrapport
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3.11.2014
Fritt Ord bruker 30 millioner ekstra på journalistikk
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2.11.2014
Nominations of journalists and media outlets in Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation call for nominations of journalists, bloggers, internet media and newspapers for the 2015 Press Prizes.
The Press Prizes will be awarded to journalists and media outlets from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Nominations will be accepted until 10 November 2014.
Call for nominations 2015
The journalists and media outlets that are nominated must have shown a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression. Nominations should be accompanied by explanations of the reasons for the nominations, and newspaper or sample articles.
30.10.2014
GOOD PITCH EUROPE 2015 at Oslo Opera House
BRITDOC, supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation and other Nordic partners are bringing Good Pitch Europe to Norway on March 25th 2015.
What’s the big idea behind Good Pitch? This page on the BRITDOC site gives you the lowdown.
We're looking for films which tackle a national or global issue - have something important to show us about the world or ourselves. We welcome films of any style - personal, observational, essays, presenter-led, verité ... Projects can be at any stage from early production to completion and even early festival circuit (although rough cut stage is ideal), and they should be 60+ minutes in length (although we welcome plans to make shorter versions).
Deadline: 31st October, 4pm GMT: http://bit.ly/GPEUR15
Read more >
29.10.2014
Redaksjoners oppfølging av journalister i krigssoner
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24.10.2014
Filmpremiere: ‘1989’
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24.10.2014
In Search of a New Constitution: Why Norway Gave Us So Little and So Much
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22.10.2014
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
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21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
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12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
Read more >
15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
Read more >
5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
Read more >
3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
Read more >
29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
We are looking for anyone from the Nordic countries eager to learn more about how to use documentary film as a tool for social or environmental change. We are looking to work with eight established Nordic professionals from the worlds of film, campaigning, journalism, politics and marketing & PR.
The Good Pitch programme connects the world’s best social justice films with new allies and partners, offering new funding and distribution opportunities. The model has spread around the world over the last seven years as the global community looks for new and sustainable opportunities to support independent documentary filmmaking.
Read more >
10.11.2014
Status for ytringsfriheten i Norge - avslutningskonferanse og lansering av hovedrapport
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
3.11.2014
Fritt Ord bruker 30 millioner ekstra på journalistikk
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2.11.2014
Nominations of journalists and media outlets in Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation call for nominations of journalists, bloggers, internet media and newspapers for the 2015 Press Prizes.
The Press Prizes will be awarded to journalists and media outlets from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Nominations will be accepted until 10 November 2014.
Call for nominations 2015
The journalists and media outlets that are nominated must have shown a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression. Nominations should be accompanied by explanations of the reasons for the nominations, and newspaper or sample articles.
30.10.2014
GOOD PITCH EUROPE 2015 at Oslo Opera House
BRITDOC, supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation and other Nordic partners are bringing Good Pitch Europe to Norway on March 25th 2015.
What’s the big idea behind Good Pitch? This page on the BRITDOC site gives you the lowdown.
We're looking for films which tackle a national or global issue - have something important to show us about the world or ourselves. We welcome films of any style - personal, observational, essays, presenter-led, verité ... Projects can be at any stage from early production to completion and even early festival circuit (although rough cut stage is ideal), and they should be 60+ minutes in length (although we welcome plans to make shorter versions).
Deadline: 31st October, 4pm GMT: http://bit.ly/GPEUR15
Read more >
29.10.2014
Redaksjoners oppfølging av journalister i krigssoner
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24.10.2014
Filmpremiere: ‘1989’
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24.10.2014
In Search of a New Constitution: Why Norway Gave Us So Little and So Much
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
22.10.2014
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
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21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
Read more >
2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
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29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
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Fritt Ord bruker 30 millioner ekstra på journalistikk
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2.11.2014
Nominations of journalists and media outlets in Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation call for nominations of journalists, bloggers, internet media and newspapers for the 2015 Press Prizes.
The Press Prizes will be awarded to journalists and media outlets from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Nominations will be accepted until 10 November 2014.
Call for nominations 2015
The journalists and media outlets that are nominated must have shown a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression. Nominations should be accompanied by explanations of the reasons for the nominations, and newspaper or sample articles.
30.10.2014
GOOD PITCH EUROPE 2015 at Oslo Opera House
BRITDOC, supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation and other Nordic partners are bringing Good Pitch Europe to Norway on March 25th 2015.
What’s the big idea behind Good Pitch? This page on the BRITDOC site gives you the lowdown.
We're looking for films which tackle a national or global issue - have something important to show us about the world or ourselves. We welcome films of any style - personal, observational, essays, presenter-led, verité ... Projects can be at any stage from early production to completion and even early festival circuit (although rough cut stage is ideal), and they should be 60+ minutes in length (although we welcome plans to make shorter versions).
Deadline: 31st October, 4pm GMT: http://bit.ly/GPEUR15
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29.10.2014
Redaksjoners oppfølging av journalister i krigssoner
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24.10.2014
Filmpremiere: ‘1989’
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24.10.2014
In Search of a New Constitution: Why Norway Gave Us So Little and So Much
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22.10.2014
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
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21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
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20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
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12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
Read more >
29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
What’s the big idea behind Good Pitch? This page on the BRITDOC site gives you the lowdown.
We're looking for films which tackle a national or global issue - have something important to show us about the world or ourselves. We welcome films of any style - personal, observational, essays, presenter-led, verité ... Projects can be at any stage from early production to completion and even early festival circuit (although rough cut stage is ideal), and they should be 60+ minutes in length (although we welcome plans to make shorter versions).
Deadline: 31st October, 4pm GMT: http://bit.ly/GPEUR15
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29.10.2014
Redaksjoners oppfølging av journalister i krigssoner
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.10.2014
Filmpremiere: ‘1989’
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.10.2014
In Search of a New Constitution: Why Norway Gave Us So Little and So Much
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
22.10.2014
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
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1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
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3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
Read more >
15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
Read more >
18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
Read more >
16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
Read more >
4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
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Filmpremiere: ‘1989’
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24.10.2014
In Search of a New Constitution: Why Norway Gave Us So Little and So Much
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22.10.2014
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
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21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
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1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
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3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
Seminar om journalisters sikkerhet
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
21.10.2014
epea 02: The New Social - utstillingsåpning i Paris
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
20.10.2014
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
Tildeling av the Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2015 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.10.2014
Frykter for sikkerheten til presseprisvinner Khadija Ismayilova i Aserbajdsjan
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.10.2014
The Norway of the Future
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three debate meetings at the House of Literature under the title "The Norway of the Future". The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 7, 14 and 21 October 2014 at the House of Literature on Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
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3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
Read more >
29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
Read more >
31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
Read more >
28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
Read more >
28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
Read more >
14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
Read more >
29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
For advance registration, see the website of the Norwegian Polytechnic Society
Is Norway prepared for the future? Top politicians, researchers and industrialists join forces to shed light on the question from three different angles: the knowledge environment of the future, the infrastructure of the future and the sustainability of the future.
PROGRAMME:
Tuesday, 21 October 5.00 - 7.00 p.m.
THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE FUTURE
Read more >
3.10.2014
Instagram – photographer, editor and publicist
Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on Friday, 10 October 2014, from 5.00–7.00 pm., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring Stephen Mayes, former managing director of the image bank VII and an expert in communication and the social media, and Magnum photographer Thomas Dworzak. Espen Rasmussen, photographer and NJP editor, will be moderating the seminar. The event is open to the general public.
Instagram has given photographers unique and direct access to an immense audience. Without time-consuming middle men, people are now their own photographers, editors and publicists. They can capture the interest of their followers and get direct feedback, whether they work with current events or more long-term projects. And with simple smart phones, they work in an easier, more direct manner.
Given that nearly 60 million images are shared every single day, one might ask whether Instagram might ultimately become its own worst enemy. Can the public manage to relate to a single photograph when they are drowning in impressions? Do social and political projects get noticed through Instagram? How can one build up and retain an audience? And how can one stand out among millions of users?
Read more >
1.10.2014
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
Read more >
3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
Read more >
2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
Read more >
17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
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29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Heldagsseminar for lærere om ytringsfrihet, demokrati og tekstforming
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.09.2014
Misleading about the Fritt Ord Foundation and the House of Literature
In connection with the continuing operation of the House of Literature in Oslo, assertions have been made from several quarters that the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board was to have decided that as from 2014, the House of Literature was to "stand on its own two feet", in the sense of managing to operate without public support.
Since it became clear early on that the House of Literature obviously filled a need as a regular literary forum and debate arena, it was important for us that different parties, private as well as public, joined forces to safeguard long-term operations for this dynamic non-profit institution. Towards that end, this past February, the Fritt Ord Foundation pledged support for another seven years in the amount of MNOK 3 per year. We have challenged private sponsors, and state and municipal authorities to join the Foundation in making long-term contributions.
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12.09.2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation's student research grants 2014-2015
In collaboration with a number of Norwegian universities and university colleges, the Fritt Ord Foundation calls for applications for grants for students who are working on master's theses and documentary films in fields such as human rights, journalism, freedom of expression and democracy building.
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
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3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
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15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The grants are for up to NOK 50 000 each. Deadline for applications: 15 September or 1 October, depending on the place of study.
The call for applications per se is located on the websites of the respective institutions, and applications should be sent directly to the relevant faculties.
See this list for information about which places of study are participating in the scheme.
11.09.2014
Two lectures about antiquity
he Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to two lectures about antiquity on Wednesday, 17 September, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
KNUT ØDEGÅRD
The legacy of antiquity – why is it relevant?
Ancient Greece and Rome tested social schemes that have had a major impact on posterity in terms of political concepts, forms of government and cultural traditions. Even those of us in northern Europe have been indelibly influenced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Let us examine the world of antiquity as a source of inspiration, education and deeper knowledge about what it means to be human.
THEA SELLIAAS THORSEN
Free speech and classic literature
The struggle for free speech began already in ancient times; it could sometimes be difficult to have opinions heard under democratic and dictatorial forms of government alike. This struggle is also reflected in classic literature, in a myriad of forms and guises. Why is classic literature of such decisive importance to free speech today?
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3.09.2014
Freedom of expression in Norway – attitudes and experiences among members of the general public
The researchers engaged in the project "Status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" have surveyed the Norwegian people's experience of freedom of expression, and the results will be presented today.
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
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3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
Read more >
31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
Read more >
31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
Read more >
24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
Read more >
19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
Read more >
27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
Read more >
25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
Read more >
18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
Read more >
16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
Read more >
4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
Read more >
9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
Read more >
19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
Read more >
26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Read more >
14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
Read more >
11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
Read more >
10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
Read more >
28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
Read more >
28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
Read more >
28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
Read more >
28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
In autumn 2013 and spring 2014, the project carried out several surveys about Norwegian people's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, including both ethnic majority and minority populations. Journalists, writers and visual artists were asked for their opinions about the conditions for freedom of expression. The report "Freedom of expression in Norway: Attitudes and experiences of the general public" presents the results of these surveys.
Download the entire report here (PDF, in Norwegian).
Read the feature article "Freedom of expression – but not at work" (in Norwegian, based on the main findings from the survey).
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3.09.2014
Report launch: The status of freedom of expression in Norway - results of the demographic survey
What is the status of freedom of expression as seen from the general public's point of view? Is freedom of expression perceived as an important value in comparison with other considerations? What experiences do the general public have of freedom of expression – in the public space and at the workplace? How do we see the media's role as infrastructure for freedom of expression?
The project "The status of freedom of expression in Norway – the Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project" examines attitudes to and experiences of freedom of expression in Norway in different demographic groups and arenas.
In winter 2013, the project conducted two surveys about attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression in the majority population and among non-western immigrants and descendants.
On 3 September, a seminar will be organised at the Fritt Ord Foundation premises on Uranienborgveien in Oslo.
Some of the findings from the surveys will be presented, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions.
Programme:
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2.09.2014
epea 02: The New Social - exhibition opening in Lucca
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
Read more >
18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
Read more >
16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
6 September 2014 will mark the opening of the European photo project epea, the "European Photo Exhibition Award 02: The New Social" in Lucca, Italy.
The exhibition was shown at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo from 3 March – 27 April 2014, where it was viewed by more than 20 000 visitors. Lucca is the second stop on the exhibition's tour of Europe. In autumn 2014 and spring 2015, the photo-essays will also be shown in Paris and Hamburg.
1.09.2014
Change at the helm of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Erik Rudeng will be stepping down as Executive Director of the Fritt Ord Foundation as of today.
Knut Olav Åmås will succeed Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Read the press release announcing that Åmås was hired.
28.08.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship for journalists 2015
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2015.
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Read more >
24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
Read more >
24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
Read more >
18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Closing date for applications: Friday 19 September, 2014 at noon
Applications should be made in English and submitted to the Fritt Ord Foundation by e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
RISJ Application Form 2014 (pdf)
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27.08.2014
Humanities and the Public Good
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Stephen Tuck, Director of The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), Tuesday 9 September, 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
As head of TORCH, Dr. Stephen Tuck will give a presentation of the new humanities debate in Britain, and the activities and strategies through which The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities engages with the academic community and the wider public. Special focus will be placed on their recent lecture series Humanities and the Public Good, which examined the role of the humanities in addressing contemporary challenges, and how humanities disciplines make themselves present and prioritised in today’s society.
These topics will be followed up in a subsequent roundtable discussion, chaired by Dr. Helge Jordheim, professor of Cultural History at the University of Oslo and co-editor of What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway (2014).
The workshop will be conducted in English, and with a limited number of participants.
Free of charge. Please register by sending an e-mail to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
26.08.2014
Fritt Ord Foundation competition: Freedom of expression's heroes and anti-heroes
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school students is introducing a new topic for the 2014/2015 school year: "The Heroes and Anti-heroes of Freedom of Expression". We invite pupils to contribute texts or media productions that examine and introduce their hero or anti-hero.
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
This year's topic invites the public to recognise the importance of freedom of expression to individuals or groups. The concept of 'anti-hero' may help us bring heroes down from their pedestals and open our eyes to nuances, grey areas and paradoxes. The term anti-hero is often understood to refer to a hero who lacks some of the qualities we usually associate with a hero, or to a scoundrel/opponent of freedom of expression. We will accept either interpretation.
Pupils can participate independently or as part a class at school. The deadline for entries is Monday, 2 March 2015. Participants compete for cash prizes and a study tour to Strasbourg. A widely diverse jury with broad-based expertise will evaluate the entries.
26.08.2014
MNOK 2.2 for the promotion of contemporary Norwegian novels
Press Release, Tuesday, 26 August 2014
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation issued a call for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote contemporary Norwegian literature. The Foundation received approx. 107 applications, and it has been decided to award funding to 45 applicants. A total of MNOK 2.24 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried select projects that represent the full range of promotional activities. The recipients will be shedding light on contemporary literature through lectures, meetings with modern writers, the analysis of literary trends, and debates. The activities will take place in contexts such as festivals, dialogues, writers on tour and school projects. The initiatives address all age groups. With this invitation for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage the innovative promotion of literature, and to strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2014 or in 2015.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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22.08.2014
Europe@debate: The Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere
Together with the Körber Foundation, and as part of the FutureLab Europe project, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate about the Role of New Social and Digital Media in the European Public Sphere.
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The event will take place on Monday 1 September, from 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Open to the public and free of charge.
You can follow the debate via live stream or on Twitter at #FLE2014.
For more information, see Facebook event, or the FutureLab position paper: Position_Paper_-_The_Role_of_New_Social_and_Digital_Media_in_the_Europea._._._.pdf
PROGRAMME:
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6.08.2014
Surplus of MNOK 271 for the Fritt Ord Foundation
Press release from Formuesforvaltning, 6 August 2014
The Fritt Ord Foundation can look back on good investment performance in 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation earned a rate of return for accounting purposes of 9.9 per cent in 2013, resulting in a surplus on its investment activities of NNOK 271. The value-adjusted return on investment activities was 10.9 per cent last year, which is equivalent to MNOK 307.
"We are very pleased with rate of return on our investments last year. Many years of robust finances have afforded the Fritt Ord Foundation opportunities to accommodate a growing number of applications. This also enables us to take our own initiatives in the field of freedom of expression", comments Executive Director Erik Rudeng.
Since 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation has worked with Formuesforvaltning, an independent asset planning adviser that has helped with the development of an investment strategy and ongoing evaluations of our portfolio, as well as with preferred asset managers and investment products. Asset management has been handled through investments in asset classes such as fixed interest, Norwegian and foreign shares, private equity and property.
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27.06.2014
100 years since the shots in Sarajevo
Tomorrow, 28 June, is the centenary of those fateful shots fired in Sarajevo and the outbreak of World War 1. Our own paramount contemporary themes in politics and the public debate have often originated with ideologies, utopias, mass movements and national structures to which the Great War gave rise. From its ruins, modernism and reaction gained momentum; philosophy, art, architecture and everyday life sought to leave 'the old Europe' behind. The celebration of the centenary is a good opportunity to reflect on this trend.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
Read more >
24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
Read more >
18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
Read more >
26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
Read more >
28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation's series of lectures «The War to End All Wars»"The War to End All Wars", organised between 23 November 2013 and 9 March 2014, devoted attention to the course of the war, how it unfolded and its consequences through 52 lectures, three panel discussions and 16 film screenings.
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20.06.2014
Press Prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Press Prizes "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press Eastern Europe" were awarded at 11 a.m. on Thursday, 12 June, in the Hamburg City Hall.
Totalling EUR 80 000, the prizes were awarded to eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more about the prize laureates in the Fritt Ord Foundation's press release.
Click here to read the speech delivered by Frank Rossavik, member of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees: Der Osten sind wir.
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17.06.2014
Mein Europa – FutureLab at Süddeutsche Zeitung
The programme FutureLab Europe focuses on young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). This spring, FutureLab Europe has collaborated with the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on a series of articles called «Mein Europa», where young Europeans have written about topics that interest them, from unemployment to European identity.
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Since the EU parliamentary election in late May, the focus has been on the election results, with articles about e.g. Marine Le Pen's National Front, a low election turn-out in Slovakia, Belgian nationalism and Greek dissatisfaction. One of FutureLab's Norwegian members, Tonje Olsrud, has written about election coverage and that unique phenomenon known as the EEA agreement. The article can be found on Süddeutsche.de in German translation, and on FutureLabEurope.eu in English.
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15.06.2014
An Encounter between Scandinavian Settlers and Dakota Indians, 1890-1930
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture featuring Karen V. Hansen, Professor of Sociology & Women's and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, Massachusetts.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 17 June, from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises in Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Karen V. Hansen has taken a close look at Scandinavian immigrants who settled on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian Reservation in North Dakota, and their relationship to the existing local population. Based on the history of Norwegian-Americans, she points out similarities and differences in how the different ethnic groups in the USA have had to defend their identities and cultural expressions.
Commentator: Terje Hasle Joranger, dr.art. in the History of Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Chair of the Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA-Norway)
Moderator: Grete Brochmann, Professor in Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography, UiO
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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5.06.2014
The Ministries in London and Oslo
The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a series of lectures 'The Ministries 1814–2014 – Debate on the Development of the Public Administration' at the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo, in May and June 2014.
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Last event in the series:
Tuesday, 17 June, 6.00-7.30 p.m.
The Ministries and the Directorates 1945–2014
After the liberation on VE Day in 1945, Norway's public administration expanded vigorously. The growth was especially pronounced at the top level, where the staffs for the prime minister's office and the cabinet ministers offices are assembled and expanded. At the same time, a decentralisation and delegation process was introduced, resulting in the number of decisions taken at the highest level, that is, by the King in the Council of State, showing a steeply diminishing tendency. What is the status of the current debate about the future of the public administration?
Ole Kolsrud, historian and former senior archivist at the National Archives of Norway: About reconstruction, growth and decentralisation in the run-up to today's national public administration
Commentator: Dag Einar Thorsen, associate professor of Political Science at Buskerud and Vestfold University College
Moderator: Agnar Kaarbø, Senior adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation
Past lectures:
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3.06.2014
The 50 Year Argument: A Documentary Film by Martin Scorsese & David Tedeschi
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s new documentary film about the New York Review of Books and its legendary founder and editor, Robert Silvers.
The event will take place on Tuesday 10 June 2014, 19:00–21:00, at The Oslo House of Literature. The screening is preceded by a Skype interview with Martin Scorsese and Robert Silvers from New York.
Free entry, doors open at 18:30.
About the film
“When we started the paper, we weren’t seeking to be part of an establishment,” says Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books. “We were seeking quite the opposite, we were seeking to examine the workings and truthfulness of establishments whether political or cultural.”
Since its founding over fifty years ago during the New York City newspaper strike of 1963, America’s leading journal of ideas has pursued its goal with rigor, a unique style and more than its share of controversy. The 50 Year Argument, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and his longtime documentary collaborator David Tedeschi, rides the waves of literary, political and cultural history in much the same way as the paper itself.
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30.05.2014
Knut Olav Åmås joins the Fritt Ord Foundation
Knut Olav Åmås (46) has been named executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation, succeeding Erik Rudeng, who will be retiring. Åmås will assume his new duties in the autumn.
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
For the past eight months, Åmås has been state secretary at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Prior to that, he served as editor for Culture, Debate and Research at the national daily newspaper Aftenposten. Åmås also has experience of several other newspapers, in addition to being editor of the journal Samtiden and publishing editor at the Scandinavian University Press.
The incoming executive director has earned a graduate degree (cand. philol.) in Philosophy and a doctorate (dr. philos.) in Media Studies. He has written, edited or translated 16 books. Åmås makes the following observation about his new position:
"The position of executive director of the Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the most seminal, most exciting positions in Norwegian society. It offers unique opportunities to fuel critical, knowledge-based social debate in Norway."
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12.05.2014
Manislam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen's documentary film ManIslam – about Islam and masculinity, on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, at 6.00 p.m. at the Saga Cinema (theatre 1), Oslo.
ManIslam is the third film in a documentary series about Islam and gender. The first, Gender Me, was about Islam and homosexuality, and the second, A Balloon for Allah, discussed women and Islam, while the third deals with Islam, men and masculinity. We see an intimate portrait of Muslim men, including Naif Al-Mutawa of Kuwait and New York, who challenges the conventional Muslim male gender role.
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal LorentzenNaif Al-Mutawa, psychologist and creator of the comic strip and TV series "THE 99" about Muslim superheroes based on Islamic archetypes, will be attending the preview screening to talk about the fatwa that was recently issued against his fictitious characters. His superheroes crush stereotypes and oppose extremists. Al-Mutawa wants to give us insight into how the characters attach emphasis to positive messages in Islam and cross cultures to create a new moral framework.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Watch Trailer >
Naif Al-Mutawa and Nefise Özkal Lorentzen
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9.05.2014
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
Read more >
28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
Read more >
28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Fritt Ords Pris 2014 til Anne Sender
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
9.05.2014
Anne Senders tale ved mottakelsen av Fritt Ords Pris 2014
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
6.05.2014
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 awarded to Anne Sender
Press Release, 3 April 2014
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Anne Sender is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2014 for having brought the history of the Jewish minority in Norway to the attention of the general public and for her years of work against anti-Semitism. As a Jew, she has independently and courageously turned a critical spotlight on policies pursued by Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the area of conflict, based not least on her personal observations of living conditions on the West Bank."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette signed by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 8 May 2014, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Over the years, Anne Sender has carved out a reputation as an important voice and clear debate participant on questions related to anti-Semitism, the conflict in the Middle East and hateful statements made on the basis of the situation of the Jews. She has maintained her deep respect for the Jewish tradition and the destiny of the Jewish people.
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29.04.2014
Survey on young people's use of social and edited media
The results of a survey on young people's relationship to social and edited media were presented at an event organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation on 29 April 2014 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. This is one of the surveys that make up the Fritt Ord Foundation's Freedom of Expression Barometer, made in collaboration with the press organisations' project "Where do you have that from? The campaign for journalism".
The survey was conducted by TNS Gallup, and the results were presented by their Senior Consultant Jens Ludvigsen. In addition to shedding light on young people's use of social and edited media, the qualitative survey examines young people's relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
See the results of the survey here (pdf, in Norwegian only).
24.04.2014
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2014
On the occasion of the world Freedom of Press Day, the public is invited to meet Ukrainian journalists Mustafa Nayyem and Sergey Leschenko to discuss freedom of the press and propaganda during the conflict in Ukraine, panel discussion on monitoring and freedom of the press in Norway with representatives of the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), the Parliament's Intelligence Oversight Committee, the Association of Norwegian Editors and Attorney Jon Wessel-Aas, and the launch of the survey on young people's use of social and edited media, and their relationship to freedom of expression, the protection of privacy and surveillance.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The event will be held from 9 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
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24.04.2014
Two Norwegian participants in FutureLab Europe 2014
The FutureLab Europe programme targets young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. This year, the programme had 64 applicants from 24 different countries. Among the 20 selected to participate are Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken and Maria Alette Abdli, both of whom will be attending FutureLab's annual forum in Brussels from 21–27 September 2014.
Anna Kristense Naterstad Berg Harpviken lives in Odense, Denmark, where she studies psychology. Her academic record includes development studies at the Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Maria Alette Abdli currently works as a journalist for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. She holds a bachelor's degree from Sciences Po in France, and she has studied Islam and Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. She is an alumna of the European Youth Parliament.
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation.
23.04.2014
My Farewell to Islamism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on Friday, 25 April 2014, from 12–2 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Ahmed Akkari presents his new book My Farewell to Islamism. The Mohammed crisis, double dealing and the fight against Denmark. After the presentation, there will be a debate featuring the following panel:
Mohammad Usman Rana, a columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, comments on Islam in Norwegian media
Linda Alzaghari, managing director of Minotenk
Vebjørn Selbekk, editor at the newspaper Dagen
Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian MP
Hilde Sandvik (moderator), Cultural affairs and debate editor in the newspaper Bergens Tidende
22.04.2014
Drones: The next European Air Force?
In the past decade, armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft have been used by the USA in the biggest aerial targeted killing programme in history. Now EU and NATO states are racing to acquire their own armed drones. What can we learn from the US precedent in the use of drones and where are we heading?
Fritt Ord Foundation and Flimmer Film invite you to an exclusive pre-screening of DRONE, a Norwegian-produced documentary on the consequences of drone warfare, followed by a panel debate featuring some of the main characters in the film. Meet ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant, drone victim lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, Professor Paul Schulte and DRONE director Tonje Hessen Schei in a conversation moderated by the award-winning investigative journalist Chris Woods.
The event will take place on Thursday, 24 April 2014, from 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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22.04.2014
Congratulations to the Winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition 2014
The names of the three winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary school pupils were announced at an event on Tuesday, 22 April 2014, at the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prizes were awarded by Harald Rosenløw Eeg, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, Sigrun Slapgard and Henrik G. Bastiansen delivered speeches on the topic of young people and freedom of expression.
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
Read more >
31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
Read more >
3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
Read more >
11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
Read more >
11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
Read more >
7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
Read more >
28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
Read more >
28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
Read more >
14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
Read more >
29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
First prize was awarded to Åshild Slåen of North Gudbrandsdal Upper Secondary School in Otta for her project entitled Young people as passive activists.
Second prize went to Anja Selmer, Stavanger Cathedral School, for a project entitled Painting.
Third prize was awarded to Nancy Herz, Vardafjell Upper Secondary School, Haugesund, for her project Free speech, free people.
First prize is a grant for NOK 20 000, for NOK 15 000 and third prize for NOK 10 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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6.04.2014
Welcome to the awards ceremony!
The Fritt Ord Foundation competition for upper secondary pupils invites the public to the awards ceremony at 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 April at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo,
Three worthy winners will receives cash prizes and a trip to Strasbourg.
Programme
- Welcome
- Music by Ellington and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School
- Henrik G. Bastiansen: Youth and freedom of expression in 2014
- The awards ceremony at Harald Rosenløw Eeg: The art of daring to express opinions
- Music by Porter and Grieg, at Kvitvik/Langmoen/Lund from Foss Upper Secondary School.
- Sigrun Slapgard: Young people's statements under pressure
- Conclusion
- Reception, including refreshments
Please r.s.v.p. by 16 April to Joakim Lie (tel. +915 60 770 e-mail: joakim.lie@fritt-ord.no)
2.04.2014
What does Edward Snowden mean for European politics?
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand?
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations in London, presents the results of a survey supported by the Fritt Ord Foundation on how the European governments have reacted to the Snowden case.
The event will take place from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursday, 3 April 2014 in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Moderator/interviewer: Jon Wessel-Aas, Attorney-at-law
Commentator: Karsten Friis, Senior Adviser at NUPI
The discussion will take place in English and is open to everyone.
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31.03.2014
From Photo Project to Photo Book and Multi-media Story
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography invite the public to a seminar on photobooks on Friday, 4 April 2014, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, featuring photographers Jonas Bendiksen and Morten Andersen and photobook publisher Gösta Flemming from Journal. Moderator: Rune Eraker.
What is the mind-set underlying the photographers' major photo projects? What is the correlation between idea and design in the work process? What roles do the publisher and the editor play in the creative process from project to finished book?
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31.03.2014
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
Read more >
4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Roman/Samtid/Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
25.03.2014
What about the humanities?
On Friday, 21 March, the authors will present the book "What about the humanities? A report on the situation of the humanities in Norway" to Minister of Education Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a brief launch seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, from 9.30 - 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 21 March.
Programme:
- Introduction by the co-chairs of the working group, Helge Jordheim and Tore Rem
- Presentation of the report to the Minister of Education
- Questions and discussion with members of the working group
About the report:
What is the status of the humanities in Norway today? What kind of legitimacy do the humanities carry in Norwegian society? What type of role should the humanities play in the public space? What can be done to reinvigorate the humanities and render their social significance visible? Are the humanities in crisis?
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24.03.2014
Seminar on "Normality"
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) and Fritt Ord invite the public to the last event connected to the exhibition project We Are Living on a Star, on Friday 28 March, 10:00-16:00, at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden.
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
With Nuruddin Farah, Renata Salecl, Christoffer Eriksen and Even Smith Wergeland. Introduction by Tone Hansen and summary by moderator Thomas Keenan.
We Are Living on a Star takes its title from a tapestry woven in 1958 by Hannah Ryggen, which hung in the Norwegian government building known as “the High-rise” until July 22, 2011. The extensive explosion that took place that day left the tapestry with a gash in the left lower corner. During and after the trial against Anders Behring Breivik, Norway was encompassed in a larger debate about sanity and responsibility, about normality and the soundness of the mind. Normality, however, is far more than the opposite of insanity.
Against this backdrop, this seminar moves from the local towards a broad analysis of the concept of normality through contributions of a number of speakers from philosophy, law, architecture and literature.
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19.03.2014
Tildeling av The Preben Munthe Fellowship-stipend for 2014 ved Reuters Institute
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
17.03.2014
Courage to tell the truth
The Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe in 2014 are designated for journalists and media from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize "Free Press Russia" and the Gerd Bucerius Press Prize "Free Press of Eastern Europe", amounting collectively to a total of EUR 80 000, will be awarded to the following eight journalists and media: Maria Eismont and Dozhd TV from Russia; Tetiana Chornovol, Yulia Mostova and Mustafa Nayyem from Ukraine; Aliaksandr Klaskouski from Belarus; the Internet channel Objective TV from Azerbaijan and the news website Epress.am from Armenia.
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3.03.2014
‘The War to End all Wars’: Concluding event 8 - 9 March
The Fritt Ord Foundation has organised a number of lectures, debates and film screenings related to World War I throughout the winter of 2013-2014. The series will conclude on the weekend of 8 - 9 March at the House of Literature in Oslo, with presentations on intelligence, propaganda and the social and political consequences of the war. The doors will open at 11.30 a.m.
Speakers will include David Stevenson - Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, Kathleen Burk - Professor of Modern History at University College London, Maria Gough - the Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art at Harvard University and Jay Winter - the Charles J. Stille Professor of History at Yale University. For a brief introduction of all the speakers and their topics, see below.
Click here for the programme.
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27.02.2014
DIRECTOR OF THE FRITT ORD FOUNDATION
The director of the Fritt Ord Foundation plans to retire, and we are seeking his successor. The director will be responsible for leading the Fritt Ord Foundation's efforts to protect freedom of expression and to stimulate social debate and the courageous use of free speech.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation is seeking an experienced, insightful leader who will inspire and further develop a talented administrative staff of knowledgeable co-workers, in addition to helping the Board of Trustees with the allocation of the Foundation's significant funds. The position requires a graduate-level degree in a subject area such as the humanities, media science, the social sciences or law. The Board will also consider applicants from different specialist backgrounds or with other higher education.
Preference will be given to an applicant with substantial experience of leadership and administration, e.g. academic experience/administration from a university or university college, public administration, politics, cultural institutions, the media or volunteer organisations. The director must have broad-based knowledge of society and culture. Insight into issues involving freedom of expression would be an advantage.
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25.02.2014
EUROPEAN PHOTO EXHIBITION AWARD: THE NEW SOCIAL
Eyes on Europe
Fritt Ord and Nobel Peace Center invite the public to the exhibition opening on Monday 3 March 2014, 5 to 7 p.m., at the Nobel Peace Center, City Hall Square, Oslo.
Twelve award winning photographers interpret a changing Europe: Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (France/Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stephanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany).
Opening by photographer Jonas Bendiksen, Magnum Photos
Music by In the Country/Frida Ånnevik
Artist talk led by Professor Sigrid Lien
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18.02.2014
New Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
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28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
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28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
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15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Competition for Upper Secondary Students has been launched on its own website. This year, for the first time, participants can submit entries in several different genres, including media productions and web solutions, in addition to prose. The competition is open to all upper secondary school students. All entries will compete for a cash prize and a study tour.
This year's topic is "Freedom of expression 1814–2014". We are especially interested in entries that recognise connections between the past and the present. Whether those connections are similarities or differences will depend on the project and the individual participant. The website includes a presentation of this year's jury and their suggestions to participants. We urge teachers, students and parents to spread the word and encourage participation in this nation-wide competition. The deadline for entering is 1 March in the bicentennial year of 2014.
This is a relaunch of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People that was previously organised in collaboration with the Research Council of Norway.
17.02.2014
The Snowden Files
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to attend the event entitled "The Snowden Files" at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Wednesday, 12 February 2014, from 5 - 6.15 p.m.
Luke Harding, author and journalist at The Guardian
Moderator: Per Anders Johansen, journalist at Aftenposten
See the event on YouTube.
Luke Harding is in the news with the book THE SNOWDEN FILES – The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man. In June 2013, The Guardian ran the first article based on documents that Edward Snowden, a former systems engineer with the National Security Agency (NSA), had leaked regarding US and British intelligence services' monitoring of E-mail, text messages and telephone conversations. Harding's book gives us a thought-provoking look at Snowden's background and events over the past year.
The disclosures have triggered important public debates: What balance would it be prudent to strike between civil rights and national security? What is the scope of the US government's monitoring activities? Are US and European interests identical? What should European authorities and organisations do?
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16.02.2014
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Opptak fra “The War to End All Wars”, 8.-9. februar på Litteraturhuset
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
11.02.2014
The Preben Munthe Fellowship
Call for applications from journalists ordinarily resident in Norway for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University, in 2014
Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday, 14 February 2014
We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the inaugural Preben Munthe Fellowship sponsored by the Fritt Ord Foundation. This programme offers a unique opportunity for journalists ordinarily resident in Norway to benefit from a funded fellowship at the University of Oxford.
The Journalism Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is aimed at journalists with suitable experience from around the world whose professional efforts would be enhanced by a period of reflection, research and intellectual exchange with other journalists at Oxford. The Fellowship Programme has run for 30 years and encompasses a network of more than 520 alumni from 93 countries.
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11.02.2014
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2014
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2014.
At the start, the Annual Forum provides a week-long introduction to Brussels’ institutions and in-depth debates. Following up are the Europe@Debate-events, where the participants publicly discuss European topics focusing on "equal opportunities", "democratic participation" and "identity" with high-ranking politicians and opinion leaders. Thirdly, FutureLab-Europe participants’ Group Projects in Europe are being supported by the European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship. In addition, FutureLab Europe participants are requested to contribute to the FutureLab Europe blog.
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11.02.2014
Russian Kiss
Project Launch of Russian Kiss: Bjarne Melgaard and Annies protest against Putin's Olympics party at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Monday 3 February, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Panel:
Bjarne Melgaard: http://www.stabfrenzy.com (skype)
Annie: http://anniemelody.com
Martin Paulsen: postdoc. University of Bergen; Chair of the Rafto Prize Committee
Moderator: Audun Vinger, culture journalist
Everyone is welcome!
11.02.2014
The largest contemporary art exhibition of the year at the Henie Onstad Art Centre
WE LIVE ON A STAR
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Press release from the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation, 13 January 2014
Welcome to the press preview at the Henie Onstad Art Centre (HOK) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 January. Artists, curators and representatives of the Fritt Ord Foundation will be attending. Please register at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
In collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, HOK presents an exhibition of 18 contemporary artists who have explored the concept "normality" in the light of the terrorist massacre that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. The exhibition 'We live on a star' will open at 7 p.m. on 30 January, and will be open to the public from 31 January –27 April 2014.
The idea for the exhibition evolved from conversations about how the two institutions could make a contribution in the aftermath of the acts of terrorism. The result is the exhibition "We live on a star". The exhibition takes its name from Hannah Ryggen's wall hanging that ornamented the Government tower building up until 22 July 2011. The wall hanging survived the explosion, but the lower part was torn. Like the healing of a wound, the tear is now hardly visible after meticulous reconstruction. Nonetheless, there is a scar. It bears witness to what might be described as a brutal tear in the fabric of our own society.
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4.02.2014
The War to End All Wars
'The War to End All Wars', the Fritt Ord Foundation's series of events about World War I, will continue on the weekend of 8 - 9 February 2014 with new lectures, debates and film screenings.
There will be talks by Timothy Snyder, Nils Arne Sørensen, Øivind Storm Bjerke, Kari Brandtzæg, Aaron J. Cohen, Veronique Pouillard, Bjørn Sørenssen, Karen Gram-Skjoldager, Øyvind Tønnesson, Svante Nordin, and others.
The film programme was set up in collaboration with Cinemateket and the Department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Cinemateket will also be screening the films 'Johnny Got His Gun', 'The White Ribbon, 'Gallipoli', 'All Quiet on the Western Font, 'The Big Parade', 'Grand Illusion' and 'Westfront 1918'. The full programme is available here (in Norwegian).
28.01.2014
ANA ANA
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
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15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival and Fritt Ord present the feature length documentary Ana Ana. Q & A with Directors Petr Lom and Corinne van Egeraat after the film.
Wednesday, 5 February 2014, 20.30 h., Victoria 2, Oslo.
Trailer
Ana Ana (“I am me” in Arabic) is a cinematic poem about four young Egyptian women, set in an Egypt where dreams of the revolution have begun to unravel, and women’s rights are tremendously vulnerable. Most of the material is filmed by the characters themselves, who worked with the film’s directors over the course of two years. They find ways to express their dreams and desires in an extraordinarily open and intimate way, using metaphors and cinematic storytelling to transform their everyday struggles into the sublime. Their voices tell a story about universal desire for creativity and freedom.
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9.01.2014
epea 01: Exhibition opening in Brussels
On 9 January 2014, the epea 01
Press release, January 9, 2014
European Photo Exhibition Award – epea 01
A Joint European Art Project
How can cooperation in the field of arts and here in particular in the field of photography work? How can European foundations work together and find a joint programme? How can young European artists be supported in their international career?
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19.12.2013
Seminar: The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011
On Friday, 10 January, the seminar "The online debate in the aftermath of 22 July 2011" will be held at the House of Literature.
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The organiser is Status for Freedom of Expression in Norway, a research-based project to monitor the conditions for freedom of expression being conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Social Research, and commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation.
Co-organisers are Department of Media and Communication (IMK) at the University of Oslo, Fafo, TNS Gallup and Jon Wessel-Aas, attorney-at-law.
The seminar will concentrate on the following topics:
- Changes in the editorial administration of the online debate
- The online debaters' views on the online debate
- The online debaters to reach a broader audience?
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26.11.2013
Footage from 'The War to end War'
On the weekend 23-24 November the first installment of 'The War to End War', Fritt Ords seminar series on the First World War, was held at the Oslo House of Literature. More than 200 visitors were present for the engaging lectures by professors Christopher Clark, Patrick Salmon, Ute Frevert and Sir Hew Strachan. See footage from the lectures in the article below.
‘The War to End War’ will continue in 2014 with lectures and debates 8-9 February and 8-9 March. More information about these events will be made available on 'The War to End War' Facebook page.
Christopher Clark: How Europe went to War in 1914
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21.11.2013
DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision
A Seminar to Commemorate DVB’s Departure from Norway, Embarking to Myanmar
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
Read more >
4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
November 21, 2013
Welcoming speech by Guri Hjeltnes, member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees
Dear journalists and editors of DVB, distinguished guests from abroad, and very soon arriving Børge Brende, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs!
On behalf of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the DVB Multimedia Group: Welcome to the seminar “DVB Operations and Myanmar Media: Past Experiences and Future Vision”!
This is a seminar to commemorate DVB’s stay in Norway. DVB is on the move, leaving Norway, it is off to Myanmar.
Besides journalists and editors of DVB, we have prominent journalists from other Burmese media, and exiled journalists from Belarus and Zimbabwe as well as journalists from South Africa and South Sudan, who are now able to work inside their own countries, that are here today to both learn from DVB, and share their experiences with DVB, on their new path as a commercial, independent media house in Burma.
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21.11.2013
'The War to End War'
Lectures and Debates on the First World War
In most European countries, 2014 is the year for the commemoration of the Frist Word War – its outbreak, development, and aftermath. With a series of lectures, debates, films and other presentations, Fritt Ord will highlight especially the consequences and interpretations of the ‘War to End War’, as well as society and culture during the 1920’s and the 1930’s.
The events will take place the weekends 23-24 November 2013, 8-9 February 2014, and 8-9 March 2014, in the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
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14.11.2013
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Optimisme krever hardt arbeid
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
12.11.2013
Loyal or obedient? About freedom of expression at work
Volda University College's Faculty of Media and Journalism and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a full-day seminar on 15 November 2013 at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo
The background for the seminar is the increasingly widespread discussion about the relationship between freedom of expression and loyalty at work. Discussing the issue will be a professor of Law from the US, along with Norwegian academics, trade union representatives and the new the secretary-general of the Association of Norwegian Editors.
The event is free of charge and open to the public.
Programme
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11.11.2013
Minority Rights and Freedom in the 21st Century: Has Multiculturalism failed in Europe?
The Research Council of Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway invite the public to an open lecture on Thursday 14 November, 2013, at 14:15–16:00 at Auditorium B-1005, Dept. of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, Breiviklia, UiT.
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Lord Bhikhu Parekh is one of today’s foremost experts on immigration, minorities and multicultural co-existence. Born in India, Lord Parekh was educated in India and the UK. As a researcher and political philosopher, he has been a key contributor to the debate on multiculturalism over a number of decades.
His book Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) is considered a modern classic and A New Politics of Identity: Political Principles for an Independent World (2008) has secured his position as a leading theoretician in the field.
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10.11.2013
Classics of Journalism: Bergen and Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen invite the public to lectures at the House of Literature in Bergen.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism in general and journalism in the city of Bergen in particular.
Meet journalistic globetrotters, shapers of public opinion, originals, spiritual nobility and divinely gifted stylists.
The events are free of charge and open to the public.
Next lecture:
Monday, 18 November, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
STYLE AND WIT
SVEN ELVESTAD (1884-1934), GUNNAR LARSEN (1900-1958) AND PER HÅLAND (1919-1999)
Lectures by Bernt Roughtvedt, Gudleiv Forr and Olav Kobbeltveit
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7.11.2013
'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'
Two seminars on Crises of Democracy, Organized in collaboration with The Arena Centre For European Studies (University Of Oslo).
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
Read more >
4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
'Rethinking Europe'
Tuesday 12 November, 14:00-16:00
House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European Studies at University of Oxford, author and regular commentator in The Guardian and contributor to The New York Review of Books. His latest publication, Facts are Subversive: Political Writing from a Decade without a Name (2009) is a collection of essays on topics as varied as global warming, European integration, liberalism and geopolitics. He is the director of the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression. Garton Ash is an acute analyst of the changing predicaments of Europe.
With comments by Christopher Lord and Cathrine Holst
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7.11.2013
A Workshop on Free Speech Debate with Timothy Garton Ash
The Workshop will take place on Wednesday 13 November, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m., at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo
On all continents essential discussions are being conducted on the state of free speech – its meaning, limits, conditions and threats. As Director if the Free Speech Debate Project, a research project and online platform for people around the world to discuss what is means to have freedom of expression, Professor Timothy Garton Ash (Oxford and Stanford Universities) has updated knowledge of the debates on free speech in many countries and languages. He will give a presentation of the project and their experiences so far, as well as respond to questions relating to the European and Norwegian free speech situations.
The workshop will be conducted with a limited number of participants.
Register by sending an email to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
28.10.2013
Digital diplomacy
Thursday 31 October, 2013, 19:00–21:00 at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
Read more >
8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Are international relations and debates being revolutionized by social media? Nations rush to build their ‘online presence’, interacting and engaging with global publics. Diplomatic time and money are poured into Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But does it work? And in the era of Wikileaks and Edward Snowden, is technology undermining diplomacy rather than supporting it?
Four prominent panelists will help us distinguish hype from reality and what is genuinely new from old problems in new trappings.
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28.10.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations for the 2014 Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites nominations of journalists, newspapers and Internet media from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Fritt Ord Foundation and our partner the ZEIT Foundation aspire to support journalists and media in larger urban areas as well as in regional media to strengthen the press in outlying areas.
The prizes for journalists amount to EUR 10 000, and for the media, the amounts vary from EUR 10 000 to EUR 40 000. The prize laureates themselves decide how the money will be spent, as long as it benefits the individual medium or journalist. Nominations must be submitted by Wednesday, 30 October 2013.
The newspapers and Internet media are to demonstrate broad editorial initiatives in at least three areas, one of which should be foreign policy. They ought to be able to demonstrate balanced coverage of political, cultural, economic and social affairs. They should also show a commitment to democracy, international understanding and freedom of expression.
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28.10.2013
Power, Privacy, and the Internet
Arranged by The New York Review of Books Foundation; PEN American Center; The Fritt Ord Foundation; Lead Bank; The Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University; and The Europaeum.
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Free and open to all but registration required. To register, visit www.nybooks.com/internet
PROGRAMME
Wednesday, 30 October
Welcoming Remarks by Robert Silvers, Editor of The New York Review Of Books.
Panel I
2:00–3:30
GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS AND HACKERS:
THE INTERNET AND THREATS TO THE PRIVACY AND DIGNITY OF THE CITIZEN
Eric Klinenberg (Chair), Director of The Institute For Public Knowledge, New York University.
James Bamford, Author and Expert on the National Security Agency (NSA).
Sue Halpern, Scholar in Residence, Middlebury College.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.
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28.10.2013
A preview screening of the documentary film “The Act of Killing”
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Piraya Film and Tour de Force have the pleasure to invite the public to a screening of the internationally acclaimed film The Act of Killing at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 24 October 2013, at Gimle Cinema in Oslo. The film has dumbfounded audiences wherever it has been shown. It has left an indelible impression, and many have called it one of the best films ever, a fantastic film experience and an instant classic. The film will come to Norwegian cinemas on 15 November this year, but we are now inviting the public to a screening of the "director’s cut", which will not be shown at the movie theatres. This is the version that has won 30+ prizes from all over the world so far. Director Joshua Oppenheimer will speak prior to the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Although the film is totally banned in Indonesia, it is being distributed over the Internet and on DVDs to increasingly larger numbers of the people. Consequently, it is in the process of performing its most important task: triggering a whole new transparency about the genocide of Communists and suspected Communists in Indonesia in the 1960s.
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28.10.2013
Life is an uncertain project
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to open meetings from 7 to 9 p.m. on 8 and 22 October 2013 at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Advance registration: www.polyteknisk.no
PROGRAMME
TUESDAY, 22 October, 7 - 9 p.m.
Where will my help come from?
Individual crises must invariably be resolved from within, by the individual him- or herself. But are there resources in the community that can prepare for and deal with a crisis?
Panelists:
Fabian Stang, Mayor of Oslo
Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg, psychiatrist and politician
Trond Henry Blattmann, Chair of the Board of the National Support Group after the Events of 22 July
Per Arne Dahl, Parliamentary Chaplain and minister of the Oslo Cathedral
Moderator: Helge Simonnes, editor-in-chief of Vårt Land (newspaper).
The meeting on 22 October is fully booked.
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14.10.2013
Documentary photography in war and conflict
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar featuring photographers Oscar B. Castillo, Maria Turchenkova and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova on Tuesday, 8 October 2013, from 5 - 8 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Moderator: James Estrin, co-editor of Lens Blog and photographer with the New York Times.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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6.09.2013
Chile - 40 years after the coup: national and international impact
Wednesday, 11 September 2013 8:45-16:00
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
Read more >
19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
Read more >
19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
at Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by ILOS (University of Oslo), NorLARNet, Norwegian Oxford Committee, and Fritt Ord.
On the 11th of September Chile commemorates the 40th anniversary of the coup d’état led by General Augusto Pinochet against democratically elected President Salvador Allende. The coup marked the start of a 17 year long brutal dictatorship in Chile, but also the start of a movement in support for Latin American democracy and development across the world. Today, Chile is considered among the most consolidated democracies in Latin America and it will celebrate the 6th presidential elections after the return of democracy this fall. Nevertheless, the coup and its aftermath continue to affect politics and democratic development in various ways, and cast its shadows over the current elections. In this seminar on the day of the 40th anniversary of the coup, internationally renowned specialists will discuss achievements and current challenges for the Chilean democracy as well as international implications of the coup and its aftermath.
PROGRAM:
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5.09.2013
New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate meeting "New media and 22 July – challenges facing freedom of expression" on Thursday, 12 September 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
In 1999, the Freedom of Expression Commission presented a large-scale report with a proposal for new Section 100 in the Constitution. This gave rise to a far-reaching debate in summer 2004 before the Storting was to adopt the new section. The debate led to the Storting setting aside the proposal made by the Norwegian government and adopting a section that was close to what the Commission had proposed. Should the challenges that freedom of expression has faced in recent years occasion a broad new assessment of the regulation of freedom of expression?
Participants are Francis Sejersted, Henrik Syse, Inger Marie Sunde, Jon Wessel-Aas, Arne Johan Vetlesen, Helge Rønning and Ole Torp (moderator). The event is open to the general public.
Programme:
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30.08.2013
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Oppsummering av konferansen Lokale medier i framtiden
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
29.08.2013
The European Photo Exhibition Award 02
New touring exhibition in 2014 and 2015 on the theme
“The New Social”
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
The twelve new appointed photographers are Patricia Almeida (Portugal), Massimo Berruti (Italy), Eric Giraudet de Boudemange (France), Jan Brykczynski (Poland), André Cepeda (Portugal), Linda Bournane Engelberth (Norway), Simona Ghizzoni (Italy), Kirill Golovchenko (Ukraine), Arja Hyytiäinen (Finland), Espen Rasmussen (Norway), Stefanie Steinkopf (Germany) and Paula Winkler (Germany). see: www.epeaphoto.org
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29.08.2013
Local Media in the Future
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a full-day conference at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, Gardermoen Airport, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, 29 August.
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
• The new media economy: How should free, critical journalism be stimulated at the local level?
• Digital solutions: How is it possible to develop effective regional journalism in the light of the new media reality?
• Regional players, public and private: Who should finance a culture of expression that will promote local activities and participation?
These and related questions will be discussed at the conference.
Limited seating. Registration at lokalemedier@fritt-ord.no by 23 August 2013.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230 14642 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Download the report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done? (in Norwegian, featuring a summary in English)
15.08.2013
MNOK 2.1 for activities to promote Scandinavian literature
Press release, 16 August 2013
This spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for activities designed to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian factual prose and fiction in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received about 80 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 43 applicants. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be awarding grants totalling MNOK 2.1 to libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to represent the full range of the promotional ideas submitted. The successful projects cover a wide range of subjects, including everything from communications activities related to Scandinavian picture books to meetings with Nordic poets, popular philosophy and a focus on detective novels as contemporary literature. The activities will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, talks, lectures, theatre productions and concerts. The initiatives address all age groups.
Examples of projects receiving support:
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8.08.2013
A Free Image. A Free Word. A Free Gesture: A Seminar on Speech
Monday, 19 August 2013 9:00-17:30
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
at Fritt Ord Foundation (The Freedom of Expression Foundation), Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Organized by Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in collaboration with Fritt Ord Foundation.
Free admission. Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In the aftermath of Anders Behring Breivik’s attacks 22 July in Norway, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek coined 2011 the year of dreaming dangerously. It is no longer a dream. In several countries freedom of speech is restricted through different means of control, and right wing extremism is on the rise once again. This seminar investigates freedom of speech as an image, as a gesture and as a term through three lectures, while five status reports given by artists, writers and curators from different regions of Europe will look at how this fundamental right is being altered, redefined, used and misused and fought for.
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21.06.2013
Mehman Huseynov's travel ban not lifted
The travel ban imposed on Mehman Huseynov was not lifted for the Press Prize awards ceremony in Oslo on 20 June 2013. The Fritt Ord Foundation continues to urge the Azerbaijani authorities to lift the ban.
“Not allowing Mehman Huseynov to come to Oslo to receive the Press Prize Award is an example of how the Azerbaijani authorities repress free speech and human rights defenders' work in the country”, says Maria Dahle, director of Human Rights House Foundation. Read the full text of the article on the website of the Human Rights House Foundation.
Mehman Huseynov's mother, Frangiza Huseynova, attended the awards ceremony, accepting the prize on behalf of her son.
21.06.2013
Footage from the Press Prize Awards Ceremony and Gry Larsen's Speech
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe were bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h. The awards ceremony was filmed, and is available on Fritt Ord's YouTube channel.
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
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15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates.
Speech at Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe, 2013
Honoured laureates, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour for me to be here and to have been invited to this prestigious event here at the Nobel Institute today. Last time the prize was awarded in Oslo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre had the honour of greeting the winners. Today I have the privilege of following up that tradition.
This year, the laureates, as you all know, come from Russia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
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19.06.2013
Programme for the Press Prize Awards Ceremony: Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin’s third term
Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes for Russia and Easter Europe will be will be bestowed at an award ceremony at The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Henrik Ibsens gate 51, Oslo, on Thursday June 20 at 12.00 h.
The musicians Musikerne Mathias Eick, Andreas Ulvo and Mats Eilertsen will open the ceremony by performing the piece "Oslo". Gry Larsen, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will give the speech of congratulations to the prize laureates. Alexander Golts, political commentator and editor-in-chief of the online newspaper Ezhenedelny Zhurnal, will give the speech "Foreign Policy of Russia at Vladimir Putin's third term" on behalf of the laureates.
The Press Prizes for 2013 are awarded to:
The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow; Russia)
The journalist Alexander Golts (Moscow, Russia)
The weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk, Russia)
The journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev, Ukraine)
The journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja, Azerbaijan)
The photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Programme:
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18.06.2013
Thumbs up for Mehman Huseynov from Azerbaijan – lift the travel ban
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Photo and video journalist Mehman Huseynov is to receive one of the The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday 20 June 2013. On Monday 17 June, he was detained at the Baku airport, and informed that a travel ban had been placed on him. The Fritt Ord Foundation urges the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately lift the ban and allow Mehman Huseynov to travel to Oslo to receive the prize.
CPJ Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, June 17, 2013: Award-winning reporter barred from leaving Azerbaijan
IRFS Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety, Baku, June 17, 2013: Azerbaijan’s Government Must Lift Travel Ban on Mehman Huseynov
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17.06.2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation's grant of NOK 75 000 for the book “Witness to Madness” by Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors has examined the application and manuscript excerpts it has received carefully, considering them in the light of Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen's previously published views, some of which are of an extreme nature, bordering on the outside limits of freedom of expression. Important considerations suggest that great caution be exercised in connection with such an application. On the other hand, Jensen, who is associated with the most heinous mass murder committed in Norway during peacetime, has a singular need to express himself in book form about the acts of terrorism on 22 July and the accusations to which he is and has been subjected. In the Board's carefully considered opinion, the great doubt surrounding this issue should count in favour of freedom of expression.
The Fritt Ord Foundation
3.06.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013
Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to two journalists and a weekly newspaper from Russia, a journalist from Ukraine, and a journalist and photojournalist from Azerbaijan
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Press Release, 6 March 2013
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation Press Prizes for 2013 go to the Russian journalists Elena Kostyuchenko (Moscow) and Alexander Golts (Moscow), to the Russian weekly newspaper Yakutsk Vecherniy (Jakutsk), to the Ukrainian journalist Sergey Leschenko (Kiev), and to the journalist Tahmina Tagizade (Ganja) and photojournalist Mehman Huseynov (Baku) from Azerbaijan. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes for 2013 – The Fritt Ord Foundation Press Prize 'Free Press of Russia' and the Gerd Bucerius Prize 'Free Press of Eastern Europe' will be bestowed at an award ceremony to be held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Thursday, 20 June 2013.
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28.05.2013
Sykdom, død og de fire friheter
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy
Press Release, 14 May 2013
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
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23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
During an event at the Association of Norwegian Editors yesterday evening, Per Edgar Kokkvold and Nils E. Øy were both awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute.
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Governors states in its grounds for the award that Kokkvold is being honoured for "his firm defence of freedom of expression, not least in the face of years of death threats, and for his many and sharp comments about journalistic practices, which have contributed to self-criticism and the self-regulation of the press".
Øy is being awarded the tribute for "his indefatigable struggle over 40 years for full disclosure, free public access, editorial independence and professionalism, as well as for building up a unique archive of material in these fields".
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28.05.2013
Journalism and democracy. What about the media? What can be done?
To promote discourse on the digital media revolution, in autumn 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation appointed a working group to write articles with a personal twist to be published in book form. The group has consisted of Svein Egil Omdal (editor of the report), Anders Bjartnes, Paul Bjerke and Ragnhild Kristine Olsen. The committee's work has concentrated on the new situation for quality journalism and the potential political consequences of different media structures. Please note that the results are not an expression of specific opinions held by the Fritt Ord Foundation, nor are they based on consensus among the writers.
At an event organised in connection with Nordic Media Days in Bergen today, 9 May, from 3.15-4.00 p.m., Svein Egil Omdal will present the committee's report Journalism and Democracy. What about the media? What can be done?.
The book can be downloaded here (in Norwegian, though including an English summary). The paper version can be ordered from the Fritt Ord Foundation - contact Tonje Olsrud: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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28.05.2013
Eight new photographers selected for the second edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
Press Release, 8 May 2013
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
Read more >
19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
Read more >
19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) was launched in April this year. The book features comprehensive presentations of projects carried out by 10 photographers in the past few years.
The Norwegian Journal of Photography is an initiative under the auspices of the Fritt Ord Foundation. The editorial board consists of Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen.
The NJP editorial board has now selected eight photographers to take part in the next edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography.
The eight photographers are: Margaret M. de Lange, Jonas Bendiksen, Ivar Kvaal, Knut Egil Wang, Mathilde Helene Pettersen, Terje Abusdal, Tomm W. Christiansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
www.njp.no
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28.05.2013
Philosophy as a Humanist Discipline
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
28.05.2013
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer
Commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, TNS Gallup has conducted the first comprehensive survey on the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
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10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
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24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
The survey was carried out in collaboration with UNESCO's expert group for freedom of the press and expression.
The survey revolved around attitudes to freedom of expression in general, the experience of freedom of expression in Norway today, the experience of one's own freedom of expression, the priority given to freedom of expression in Norway compared with other societal objectives, statements in the media, in working life, religion, politics and the media, political surveillance, the medias' ideals, self-experienced harassment and violence.
The 2013 Freedom of Expression Barometer 2013 (pdf) (Norwegian)
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28.05.2013
All That is Banned is Desired – Conference report
Introduction: “This was unlike any conference I have ever attended. Taking its title from the Arab proverb ‘All That Is Banned Is Desired’, and described as ‘the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression’, this was an historic, wide-ranging and often emotional gathering of musicians, writers, painters, photographers, dancers, film-makers or publishers who have all suffered from censorship, but have been determined to carry on, despite imprisonment and torture, or threats that ranged from financial ruin to physical violence and even death.”
Written by Robin Denselow, a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who reports for The Guardian, BBC tv and radio, this report is a catching, touching and enlightening publication about the current state of freedom of expression among artists around the world.
It reflects on the numerous accounts and incidents of censorship, persecution and imprisonment of artists, as they were revealed in testimonials and panel debates during ‘All that is Banned is Desired’, the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression which took place on 25-26 October 2012 at the Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Conference Report (pdf)
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15.05.2013
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Fritt Ords Pris 2013 til Per Fugelli
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
10.05.2013
Freedom of Expression Prize for 2013 awarded to Per Fugelli
Press Release - 20 February 2013
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Per Fugelli is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2013 for having given a voice to cancer patients and those who stand face to face with death."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 May 2013, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, in Oslo.
Based on his own experiences and illness after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009, Per Fugelli has helped open up a discussion about what it means to be seriously ill. With wisdom and generosity, he has drawn attention to our fears of talking about death and how we repress such thoughts. As Fugelli puts it: "Today's society needs to 'release death from the prison of banned words". Among other works, he has written the following book on this topic: Death, shall we dance? (2010), which has proved a welcome contribution to candour about death in life.
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1.05.2013
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2013
We invite the public to the launch of The Freedom of Expression Barometer, the first comprehensive survey of the general public's attitudes to and experience of freedom of expression, a debate about The authorities, the companies and the journalists, based on the hostage drama in In Amenas and to a talk about Drawing as Expression. The event will take place on Friday, 3 May 2013, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., at the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
Read more >
4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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30.04.2013
Maintaining Humanity’s Life Support Systems in the 21st Century: messages for policy makers.
The Science Library, The Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis and The Fritt Ord Foundation invites you to attend an open lecture in The Science Library, Vilhelm Bjerknes' hus, Blindern, University of Oslo.
Tuesday 7 May, 16.15-17.45
Anthony Barnosky, from the University of California at Berkeley, is the lead author of a new scientific consensus statement intended to raise awareness among world leaders and the public in general about critical environmental issues that need immediate attention in order to ensure a sustainable world over the next few decades. The issues highlighted are climate disruption, extinctions, ecosystem loss, environmental contamination, and human population growth and over-consumption. One of the conclution is that "Human quality of life will suffer substantial degradation by the year 2050 if we continue on our present path". Over 200 respected scientists who study global change issues has already signed the consensus. Once a sufficient number of signatures has been collected, the statement will be presented to world leaders.
There will be an introduction by Nils Chr. Stenseth, and comment by Nina Jensen from WWF, followed by an open debate.
30.04.2013
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Nytt prosjekt om status for ytringsfriheten i Norge
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
24.04.2013
Brethren!
Grants for library literature programmes 2013–14
The Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities to promote Swedish, Danish and Norwegian non-fiction and fiction. Projects that promote contemporary literature or our common Scandinavian cultural heritage and literary history will be given priority. Applications will be accepted for activities such as seminars, readings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions or online communications activities. Applicants are free to select the topic of their choice.
Deadline for applications: 20 June 2013.
Through this call for applications, the Fritt Ord Foundation seeks to encourage activities that will promote literature and strengthen public libraries as communications arenas. Applications should be submitted using the form on the website. The application should be labelled "Broderfolk" (Brethren) and have the name of the project in the title field.
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24.04.2013
Societies of Classical Antiquity
Politics, Society and Power
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History (University of Oslo) invite the public to series of lectures on Societies of Classical Antiquity with dr. philos. Knut Ødegård at the University of Oslo Library, Auditorium 1, Georg Sverdrup's House/Blindern, at 7 p.m. on eight Thursdays from 17 January to 2 May 2013. The lectures will be filmed and posted on the Fritt Ord Foundation's YouTube channel on an ongoing basis.
Thursday, 2 May, 7.00 p.m.
THE PARTING OF WAYS: FRAGMENTATION AND THE POWER OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST, THE POWER OF THE EMPEROR IN THE EAST
Under Emperor Constantine (306–337), the Christian faith made the transition from an underground movement to the authorities' preferred religion. But how did Christianity impact on the idea of citizenship and people's way of thinking? New institutions and balances of power caused states and societies to be formed in vastly different ways in the East and the West.
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24.04.2013
Launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography
We invite the public to a launch party for the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) at 6 p.m. on Friday, 5 April 2013, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The launch will feature presentations of all the photo projects.
NJP contains 10 independent photographic essays by Helge Skodvin, Andrea Gjestvang, Karin Beate Nøsterud, Ingvild Vaale Arnesen, Ellen Lande Gossner, Marie Sjøvold, Monica Larsen, Linda Bournane Engelberth, Eivind H. Natvig and Oddleiv Apneseth.
Programme for the evening: Words of welcome by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the NJP editors, presentation of the photo-essays by the photographers, a musical interlude featuring the Valkyrien Allstars, the unveiling of the book, and a publisher's comment on why the book looks the way it does and its path out into the world.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
“As photographers and bookmakers, we firmly believe that the best way to deepen and expand a photographer’s vision is to give him or her the time and support to work on a long-term project that he or she is passionate about – and this is exactly what the NJP has provided each photographer. For the past two years – and in some instances longer – these talented and committed Norwegian men and women have been photographing their country, bringing to each project curiosity, intelligence, and passion – as well as a unique eye.”
– Look north more often: Alex Webb, Rebecca Norris Webb
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3.04.2013
A new day dawning for journalism?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar featuring the Swedish reporter and politician Mats Svegfors at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 April 2013. Geir Arne Bore, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Drammens Tidende, and Trine Eilertsen, political commentator at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation will be commentator, while Anna B. Jenssen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Morgenbladet, will act as moderator.
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
Read more >
19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
Read more >
19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
What impact do digitisation and the media houses' business models and organisation have on journalism? Has the coverage of international news, politics, domestic news and local news become better or worse in recent years? What is the real editorial trend, and who are the drivers? Should well-educated, sophisticated Scandinavian societies stop comparing their news media with the best foreign news media? Do technological and financial opportunities bear promise of a new day for high-quality journalism?
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2.04.2013
Classics of Norwegian Journalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a series of lectures entitled Classics of Norwegian journalism at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, in the interval from 15 January to 29 April 2013.
Journalism is in flux. The profession is under pressure. It is being challenged by media companies, fascinating technology and an opinionated audience. What is journalism, actually? What has it been? What can it be? It is high time to turn our attention to the classics of Norwegian journalism. Technology also opens new opportunities. The pioneers of yesteryear may have something to say – not least to the journalists and citizens of today and tomorrow.
Programme:
Monday, 29 April, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
ARVE SOLSTAD, TRYGVE HEGNAR AND ASTRID BREKKEN
Lectures: Christopher Hals Gylseth, Niels Christian Geelmuyden and Guri Hjeltnes
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2.04.2013
Fritt Ord seeks project manager
Fritt Ord announces a vacancy for a project manager in a 50% position to run the Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People. The position is on a 3-year contract. The successful applicant will bear the technical and administrative responsibility for the competition, which is aimed at upper secondary pupils. The Freedom of Expression Foundation Competition for Young People focuses on issues related to freedom of expression. The essays will be evaluated by an independent jury chaired by Professor Henrik G. Bastiansen.
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
We seek a well-educated teacher with experience of teaching at the upper secondary level and a background from the humanities/social sciences. The person in question must be committed to the issues, have the ability to generate interest in the competition and be able to document administrative skills. Flexible working hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment will be determined by contract. The project manager's office will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
For more detailed information, contact Tonje Olsrud at +47 230-14640. Applications and attachments to be submitted by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)by 20 April 2013.
27.02.2013
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center
Fritt Ord Foundation, Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian – Delegation en France, and Körber-Stiftung invite the public to the opening of the European Photo Exhibition Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on Thursday 7 March 2013, 6 p.m. Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
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27.02.2013
Scientific Knowledge as Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age
The Science Library, The Seminar in Science Studies and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the foyer of Vilhelm Bjerknes hus, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, Wednesday 27 February 2013, at 2.15 pm:
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
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16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Scientific Knowledge as Cultural Icon for Modernity, and as Public Authority for a Technoscientific Age - Contradiction-in-Terms?
Brian Wynne, is Professor of Science Studies at Lancaster University. He recently published the book "Barcoding Nature: Shifting Cultures of Taxonomy in an Age of Biodiversity Loss".
The lecture is open for everyone. Tea and coffee will be served during the intermission. From 15.15-16.00 the floor will open up for questions, comments and discussion. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
27.02.2013
Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the event "Thirty years after Marianella Garcia Villas – What now, El Salvador?" at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 13 March 2013.
Marianella Garcia Villas opened the eyes of politicians and concerned individuals in Norway and in the rest of Europe; she gave her life to make people aware of the abuses of human rights that were taking place in El Salvador. Christian Democrat and lawyer Garcia Villas founded the Human Rights Commission (CDHES) and was a pioneer in the service of freedom of expression. 13 March 2013 marks the 30th anniversary of the date on which she was tortured to death, and her work continues. Today El Salvador has a human rights ombudsman, and efforts to safeguard human rights are high on the political agenda.
At the event on 13 March, Human Rights Ombudsman Oscar Humberto Luna from El Salvador will speak about current challenges. Laura Perez Hernandez, one of Marianella Garcia Villas' closest colleagues, will talk about working with Marianella, while Benedicte Bull, head of the Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), will discuss Norway and El Salvador – What is happening? Foreign correspondent and author Sigrun Slapgard will moderate the event. There will be a cultural interlude and music featuring Birgitte Grimstad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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27.02.2013
Ronald Dworkin 1931-2013
Ronald Dworkin on 14 February. Many considered him to be the Anglo-Saxon world's leading scholar of constitutional law, and he was the author of central works on freedom of expression, among other things.
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
Read more >
15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
Read more >
4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
His debate with Jeremy Waldron at the House of Literature during the Conference on Multi-culturalism arranged by the Fritt Ord Foundation and New York Review of Books on 25-26 June 2012 can be seen here.
See also the obituaries in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The Washington Post.
27.02.2013
Fritt Ord Foundation press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova arrested in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan was the site of large-scale demonstrations in late January. On Saturday, 26 January 2013, hundreds of people demonstrated in the capital city Baku to show their solidarity with protesters all across the country. The unrest is a result of widespread corruption, among other things. The demonstration in Baku was brought to a brutal stop by the police, and about 50 demonstrators were arrested. Among them was Khadija Ismayilova, winner of the 2012 press prize awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation.
The Civic Solidarity Network and the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA) condemn the sharp reaction on the part of the Azerbaijani authorities, and have issued a statement about the demonstration on 26 January to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.
18.01.2013
Banaz A Love Story
Fritt Ord and Fuuse invite to a screening of Banaz A Love Story followed by a Q&A with Director and Producer Deeyah, Detective Superintendent Caroline Goode, Campaigner Diana Nammi, and Author and Professor of Social Antropology Unni Wikan. Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster Kenan Malik will moderate the conversation. Time and Date: Thursday, 24 January 2013 at 7 p.m. Venue: Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing.
This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
See video from the conversation here.
Banaz Mahmod was brutally murdered by her own family, in an honour killing. This film tells Banaz’s story, in her own words, for the first time – and tells the story of the extraordinary police team who refused to give up, and finally brought her killers to justice.
THE EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.
Registration: banaz@fritt-ord.no See trailer: YouTube or Vimeo
This is a documentary film chronicling an act of overwhelming horror – the brutal honour killing of Banaz Mahmod, a young British woman in suburban London in 2006, killed and “disappeared” by her own family, with the agreement and help of a large section of the Kurdish community, because she tried to choose a life for herself. It was a case which shocked the entire world and received enormous international press coverage; but until now, the voice of Banaz herself has never been heard.
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17.01.2013
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2013-14
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project among 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship), including the Fritt Ord Foundation. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the autumn/next spring programme is 28 February 2013.
How can we deal with the serious challenges facing Europe, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute? The topics discussed at FutureLab include solidarity, identity and migration policy in a multi-cultural Europe, as well as climate and energy issues.
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is an obligatory one-week course in Brussels in autumn 2013. There will then be a series of national debates in different European countries under the title Europe@Debate, including a spring session in Brussels. In addition, there will be activities organised by the participants themselves. Participants are also expected to be active on FutureLab's Internet forum.
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17.01.2013
Norwegian artists for the exhibition entitled We live on a star
Press Release - 11 January 2013
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The selection of the Norwegian artists to participate in the exhibition We live on a star, scheduled to open at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in January 2014, is now complete.
The project was motivated by events in the wake of the terrorist acts committed in Norway on 22 July 2011. In the summer of 2012, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Henie Onstad Art Centre announced funding for artists who wanted to create new works for the planned exhibition We live on a star.
"The response to the open call for projects for the exhibition has been fantastic. No fewer than 115 applications were received, and they were generally of extremely high quality. Accordingly, it has been both difficult and time-consuming to decide which artists should be included. After several rounds of talks with many of those involved, we have now arrived at a list of the Norwegian artists designated for participation", reports Curator Marit Paasche, in consultation with Curator Tone Hansen.
The following Norwegian artists will be represented:
Julian Blaue, Martin Braathen, Hanne Friis, Marthe Ramm Fortun, Else Marie Hagen, Silje Linge Haaland, Per-Oskar Leu, Lotto Konow Lund, Jumana Manna and Eline McGeorge.
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17.01.2013
Styreleder Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohns minneord ved Preben Munthes bisettelse i Ris kirke 11. januar 2013
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
16.01.2013
Invitation to the premier of the award-winning Norwegian motion picture "Gulabi Gang"
The film “Gulabi Gang” will premier at Gimle Cinema in Oslo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, 17 January 2013 in connection with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Norway. Minister of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Inga Marte Thorkildsen will be speaking before the film. Following the screening, there will be talks with Sampat Pal, founder of the Gulabi Gang, and Nishtha Jain, director of the film.
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, India, where the women long for justice and respect. Their everyday lives are rife with threats and violence. Murders occur regularly, and the men who commit them get away with it time and time again. The women want change, but as individuals, they do not stand a chance in the male-dominated society.
Yet there is hope nonetheless: The charismatic Sampat Pal founded the Gulabi Gang (The Pink Gang). Uniformed in pink saris and equipped with matching bamboo sticks, the Gulabi Gang deals with abusive husbands and corrupt policemen, politicians and judges. The members of the Gulabi Gang stand up for their sisters. And they win.
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11.12.2012
Conference videos online: All That is Banned is Desired
Fritt Ord and Freemuse are happy to present the video material from the conference ‘ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression’. We present the whole sessions as well as interviews with some of the artists and speakers.
Video trailer
Watch the videos on the conference site
Discussion Forum and ‘Video Channel’
for sharing on Facebook
Channel on Youtube
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6.12.2012
Call for applications: The Fritt Ord Foundation's monitoring project on the status of freedom of expression in Norway
Over the past 10 to 15 years, issues involving freedom of expression have come more and more to the foreground at the national and international levels. While legal limitations have diminished, generally speaking, freedom of expression has to a greater extent come to the attention of the general public, owing to its controversies, corrections, suppressions and blow-outs. Strong political and religious conflicts at the international level appear to have provoked a myriad of antagonisms in the field of freedom of expression. The Internet has raised new issues. More attention has been devoted to the position of freedom of expression in legislation and case law, the media, artistic and cultural life, private companies, government agencies, schools and universities, organisations, etc.
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
To identify and analyse the position of freedom of expression in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing the availability of up to MNOK 5 in framework funding for a research-based monitoring survey in 2013–2014. The survey should be geared to a collective presentation in the late autumn of 2014. After that time, it will be possible to continue the survey in 2015–2016, with comparable funding.
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4.12.2012
The evangelist in the meeting house – Christian voices in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and talk at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Monday, 10 December 2012, from 5 to 7 p.m., featuring Elisabeth Kleppe, film director with Aldeles, Bergen, Espen Ottosen, preacher, chief information officer for the Norwegian Lutheran Mission and columnist in the newspaper Aftenposten, and Frank Rossavik, author and commentator in the newspaper Bergens Tidende. Moderator: Turid Rogne, film producer with Aldeles, Bergen.
Finn Kleppe has devoted his life to what he saw as his calling: to spread the word of Christ throughout the kingdom of Norway. As a preacher with the Free Evangelical Meetings, Norway, he travelled all over the country as an evangelist, leaving his wife and three children behind in Bergen. In the film "The Evangelist", Director Elisabeth Kleppe turns the camera on her father and the bethel meeting houses he calls home.
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29.11.2012
Tibet – a burning desire for freedom
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 29 November 2012 at Uranienborgvn. 2 in Oslo, featuring the following participants:
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Dhardon Sharling, Tibetan MP in exile, Dharamsala
Kate Saunders, Communications Director, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.
Namkho, Tibetan eyewitness and documentarist
Shao Jiang, Chinese activist in exile and blogger, London
Moderator: Kate Saunders
Tibetan despair under China's oppressive rule has lasted for more than 60 years at this point. One of the most shocking forms of protest in the region involves the Tibetan monks who have set themselves on fire. Time Magazine ranked the story of Tibetan monks' self-immolations as the most underreported story of the year last year. There are also civilian Tibetans among the 84 who have set themselves on fire thus far. A total of 69 of them have died, and thus far in November there have already been 25 new cases. What is the situation in Tibet today? Which battles are being fought to preserve Tibetan identity and culture? What human rights do the Tibetans have under the Chinese authorities - and what policy is the new the political leadership in Beijing expected to conduct?
See video from the seminar on YouTube.
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29.11.2012
Fritt Ord's web site blocked in China in advance of Tibet seminar
Pressemelding 29. november 2012
NEWS & ICT REPORTS, International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, D.C.:
Norwegian website blocked in advance of Tibet meeting featuring ICT
By mriehl
Created 11/28/2012 - 12:24
International Campaign for Tibet
28 November, 2012
The website of a Norwegian organisation dedicated to freedom of expression has been blocked in China in advance of a Tibet program on Thursday (November 29) featuring a speaker from ICT. This latest incident of censorship occurs two weeks ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, this year to be awarded to the European Union after Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo in 2010.
The Fritt Ord organisation based in Oslo said that the link where the live web-cast of the event is posted is now blocked and cannot be accessed in China and Tibet due to filtering of the site by the Chinese authorities. The event features Kate Saunders of ICT and three other speakers Namkho, Dhardon Sharling and Shao Jiang speaking about the self-immolations in Tibet.
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26.11.2012
European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca – 25 November 2012 to 6 January 2013 – Lucca
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel. The exhibition will open at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo on 8 March 2013.
The photo essay ‘Metaphysics of an Urban Landscape’, by Gabriele Croppi which was produced for the European Photo Exhibition Award – “European Identities” was awarded first prize in the category Architecture – Building of the 2012 International Photography Award.
www.epeaphoto.org
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23.11.2012
Overrekkelsen av Fritt Ords Honnør til Nina Johnsrud 22.11.12
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
23.11.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Nina Johnsrud
Press Release, 8 November 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute to Nina Johnsrud. The Board's grounds are:
Nina Johnsrud is awarded the Freedom of Expression Tribute for her courageous journalism and defence of freedom of expression.
The Tribute will be awarded at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 22 November 2012.
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23.11.2012
Programme: ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED
Welcome to the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression, ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED. Over the two days of the conference, more than 50 artists and individuals involved in the arts will address vital and complex issues concerning artists’ freedom of expression.
Artists will share both their experiences of censorship and the many strategies developed to claim, defend and advance their freedoms as well as the freedoms of other artists and those who wish to experience the art they create.
This conference is the beginning of a concerted effort to enhance the monitoring of and defense against violations of artists’ freedom of expression worldwide.
Venue: The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, 25 and 26 October 2012. Organizers: Fritt Ord and Freemuse.
PROGRAMME
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
23.11.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation embarks on a project to monitor the status of freedom of expression in Norway
The Fritt Ord Foundation organised a brainstorming and discussion meeting on Wednesday, 21 November 2012, regarding a new project for which funding will be announced in early December this year.
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
Read more >
29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Programme
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: BRIEFING
Freedom of expression – the development of legislation and case law: Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
Briefing on the programme for the day by the moderator: Grethe Brochmann, Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board
The importance of a monitoring survey – freedom of expression, the media and journalism: Frank Rossavik, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
Research Perspectives: Guri Hjeltnes, Trustee of the Fritt Ord Foundation
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23.11.2012
ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Oslo Opera House, 25 and 26 October 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012. Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION: www.artsfreedom.org/registration
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23.11.2012
A Microbial Perpective on Life on Earth
The Science Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the Georg Sverdrup Building, Aud. 1, Blindern Campus, University of Oslo, at 2.15 p.m. on Friday, 2 November 2012.
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Roberto Kolter, a professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, will deliver a lecture on chemical communication between microorganisms – small molecules with serious consequences. He will provide an overview of how microbiological activity has shaped our planet, discussing and giving examples of how these organisms may react to the global changes of our time.
Q&A and summary by Professor Dag O. Hessen.
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23.11.2012
Disparity in Norway
The Norwegian Polytechnic Society and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature under the title 'Disparity in Norway'. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays on 9, 23 and 30 October 2012, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo.
Please register in advance at www.polyteknisk.no.
Programme:
Tuesday, 30 October 2012, 7 to 9 p.m.: The social model of the future
Is there a need to 'civilise' capitalism – or to get rid of it? Should Norway continue to be a country apart from all others? Are the Norwegian party patterns and partisan blocks prior to the parliamentary election in 2013 appropriate for facing the challenges of the future? What are the parties thinking?
Debate featuring Khamshajiny Gunaratnam, City Council representative for the Labour Party in Oslo, Andreas Christiansen Halse, leder i Sosialistisk Ungdom, Himanshu Gulati, chair of the Party of Progress Youth, Bjørnar Moxnes, chair of the Red Party, Nikolai Astrup, MP for the Conservative Party, and Anna B. Jenssen, editor of the newspaper Morgenbladet (moderator).
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12.10.2012
Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo invite the public to a lecture by Jan-Werner Müller on Monday, 22 October 2012, from 2.15–4.00 p.m. The lecture is entitled "Fear and Freedom: The Legacies of Mid-Twentieth Century Liberalism". It will held in Auditorium 1 in the Eilert Sundt Building on the Blindern campus in Oslo.
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Jan-Werner Müller is a professor of Political Science at Princeton University in the US, where he chairs a history of ideas research project on the “History of Political Thought”. Müller has also garnered a great deal of attention for his unusual analysis of the emergence of liberal democracy in Europe in his latest book Contesting Democracy: Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe (Yale University Press, 2011). In the book, he discusses the history of political thought in Europe in the 20th century, devoting special attention to the sad state of thought about democracy exhibited on the part of leading intellectuals.
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28.09.2012
Speeches at the presentation of Freedom of Expression Tributes to Bielenberg, Johansen and Johnsbråten
On 26 September 2012, Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Frank Rossavik, Guri Hjeltnes and Liv Bliksrud spoke at the ceremony to award Freedom of Expression Tributes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten.
Frank Rossavik's speech for Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
This spring and summer, Norway's attention was in no small way focussed on the debate about how to deal with foreigners' begging on public streets and in market squares. Many of the beggars are and were Roma – who used to be called Gypsies – from Romania.
In contrast to the situation in many other countries, begging is legal in Norway at present. People may have different opinions about this. The same can be said about aspects of the Roma culture. Through interviews, the first of today's Tribute laureates, Photographer Anne-Stine Johnsbråten, identified some of the challenges facing the Norwegian Roma, including marriage at an early age, very traditional gender roles, and extensive illiteracy.
However, above all else, through her work as a photographer, Anne-Stine Johnsbråten has tried to fight simplistic generalisations about a people who live differently from most of us, and who are probably the most oppressed people in Europe at the moment.
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28.09.2012
Announcing a call for applications for art projects
We live on a star – a major exhibition at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
Read more >
9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
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15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and information project about the terrorist events of 22 July will be opened to the public. With the working title We live on a star, the project is a cooperative venture between the Henie Onstad Art Centre and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star, made in 1958, will be a focal point of the project. While on display in the Norwegian Government's H-Block, the lower part of the tapestry was damaged in the blast of the terrorist attack. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage as is. Accordingly, We live on a star represents a wound, a gash in our normality.
The project We live on a star invites us to ponder how our reality has been reflected, and how it continues to be reflected, in the public space after 22 July 2011. Which stories and problems have been pre-dominant, and what have we overlooked? Art plays a part in these efforts as a vehicle for analysing visuality, media and ideology, and as a carrier of free thought. Accordingly, it is open to approaches from all angles.
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28.09.2012
'All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
Preliminary conference programme is out
The preliminary programme for ‘All That is Banned is Desired’ – the World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression at the Oslo Opera House on 25–26 October was published today, and the conference is now open for registration.
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)The world conference, organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse, is the first of its kind. Artists who have faced censorship, imprisonment or even abduction will talk about their experiences and struggle for freedom of artistic expression.
The list of artists on stage includes chief conductor Adam Fischer, playwright Gurpreet Kaur, poet and activist Outspoken, and film director and comedian Zarganar.
For more information, visit the conference website: www.artsfreedom.org
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
OUTSPOKEN, Spoken Word Artist (Zimbabwe)
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28.09.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute awarded to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten
Press release – 20 September 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten. The tribute will be awarded at an open ceremony from 11–12 a.m. on 26 September 2012 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. The tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Foundation trustees Liv Bliksrud, Guri Hjeltnes and Frank Rossavik.
The Freedom of Expression Tribute goes to Raya Bielenberg, Jahn Otto Johansen and Anne-Stine Johnsbråten for the thought-provoking contributions that the three have made through their words, music and photographs, drawing attention to the plight of the Roma people and communicating valuable insight into Roma culture and history.
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28.09.2012
epea – European Photo Exhibition Award 01: European Identities
Exhibition at the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian – 11 September to 18 November 2012 – Paris
Series of photos by Catarina Botelho, José Pedro Cortes, Gabriele Croppi, João Grama, Monica Larsen, Frederic Lezmi, Pietro Masturzo, Hannah Modigh, Davide Monteleone, Linn Schröder, Marie Sjøvold and Isabelle Wenzel.
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant issues concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented young photographers. The topic of epea 01 is "European Identities". It refers to current questions of cohesion and unity as well as aspects of diversity within Europe and gives the photographers the opportunity to focus on individual, social, political, cultural, national and transnational issues. In their observations, analyses and statements the twelve appointed photographers translated this deliberately open topic into a photo essay.
The project is co-organized by four foundations: Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Fritt Ord and Körber-Stiftung.
www.epeaphoto.org
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5.09.2012
Mexico under observation
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an open seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Thursday, 13 September 2012 at 10.30–15.30.
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
With 118 million inhabitants, an extraordinary history, and vast natural resources – Mexico is one of the great nations of North America, but strangely neglected in international news media, except for items about drug cartels. Two of the country’s leading historians today, Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega, will be discussing Mexico’s modern history and present challenges. One key event – the Mexican Revolution – will be presented from the vantage point of a contemporary Norwegian observer, Maggie Plahte Lie (1863–1955).
For biographical information about Lorenzo Meyer and Romana Falcón Vega including details about their lectures at the University of Oslo on Friday, 14 September, from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon: see www.norlarnet.uio.no/events/events-in-norway/2012/meyer-falcon
Programme
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24.08.2012
The Freedom of Epxression Tribute to Simon Flem Devold
Press release, 24 August 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to author, journalist and musician Simon Flem Devold. The Board's grounds are:
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is awarded to Simon Flem Devold for his ground-breaking involvement as an advocate of children's voices, life experience and rights through the column "På skråss" ("On the Q.T.") in Aftenposten, in which he often dealt with taboo topics.
The Tribute will be awarded to Flem Devold by Chair of the Board Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 September, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
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13.08.2012
Fritt Ord Foundation calls for nominations of journalists and media for 2013 Press Prizes Eastern Europe
Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung call for nominations of journalists and media primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Nominations will be accepted until 22 October 2012. The prizes will be awarded at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo in June 2013.
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
"Those who submit nominations, jury members and both foundations share a common goal: We aspire to draw attention to journalists and media which in an honest, brave and consistent manner strive to promote independent journalism, that practice independent journalism", comments Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large of Die ZEIT and chair of the jury for the press prizes.
The foundations would like to express their support for newspapers, Internet media and journalists in larger cities as well as for regional media aimed at strengthening the press in rural areas.
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8.08.2012
MNOK 2.2 granted to New Norse (Nynorsk) projects at the public libraries
Press release, 9 August 2012
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced grants of NOK 50 000 each for communications activities to promote New Norse literature in Norwegian public libraries. The Foundation received 93 applications, and has approved support for the projects of 46 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2.2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
Fritt Ord has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has attached importance to showing the diversity and wealth of ideas among the applications. The successful applications cover topics such as self-understanding in Hedmark County, Hulda Garborg's life and authorship, and New Norse Twitter short stories. The communications projects range from theatre productions, concerts, courses and lectures, to meetings with authors. The initiatives are aimed at all age groups.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hopes the grants will encourage the dissemination of New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature, kindle more interest in reading and promote local debates. The projects will be carried out in autumn 2012 or in 2013.
Selected examples of projects granted support:
Hulda Garborg Projects
The 150th anniversary of "the mother of New Norse" Hulda Garborg (1862–1934) is the theme of five projects at Ryfylke Library Forsand, Skien Library, Sogn & Fjordane County Library and Bergen Public Library. Garborg's life and authorship will be brought to life through lectures, puppet theatre and storytelling performances.
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25.06.2012
We live in on a star:
22 July in a major exhibition to be held at the Henie Onstad Art Centre in collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
In January 2014, a major international exhibition and research project based on the aftermath of the events of 22 July will be presented to the public. The project will commence in August 2012 under the working title We live on a star.
"Thanks to extensive collaboration with the Fritt Ord Foundation, we will be presenting a major exhibition with a number of new commissioned works, a comprehensive programme and a major publication", remarks Tone Hansen, director of the Henie Onstad Art Centre.
One central work in the project is Hannah Ryggen's tapestry We live on a star from 1958. Originally displayed in the Government Administration Complex, the work was damaged by the blast. Rather than repairing the tapestry, it was decided to leave the damage. As a result, this ‘wounded’ work bears witness to what happened, and to the ramifications of the events.
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15.06.2012
Challenges to Multiculturalism. A Conference on Migration, Citizenship, and Free Speech
The New York Review of Books Foundation and Fritt Ord invite the public to the conference 'Challenges to Multiculturalism', 25–26 June 2012 at Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
Kwame Anthony Appiah – Robert Badinter – Christopher de Bellaigue – Grete Brochmann – Jørgen Carling – Ronald Dworkin – Timothy Garton Ash – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – Torbjørn Røe Isaksen – Christian Joppke – Jytte Klausen – Pankaj Mishra – Malise Ruthven – Paul Scheffer – Robert Silvers – Yasemin Soysal – Unni Wikan – Jeremy Waldron
The conference is free and open to all. For registration (required) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
See webcast from the conference.
Conference Programme
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15.06.2012
World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression to Oslo
‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and Freemuse – The World Forum on Music & Censorship, Copenhagen, will organize the first world conference on artistic freedom of expression at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, on 25 and 26 October 2012.
Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.
Many artists are condemned, persecuted, censored or rejected. During «‘All That is Banned is Desired’. A World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression», we will draw attention to attacks on freedom of artistic expression in non-democratic or religion-dominated societies, as well as in democratic and more secular countries. Artists from all over the world will be sharing their experiences and discussing different forms of censorship with curators, academics, cultural producers and journalists.
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15.06.2012
Grants to promote literature programmes at public libraries, 2012–13
New Norse literature
To strengthen linguistic diversity and public libraries as information arenas, the Fritt Ord Foundation is calling for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for activities at Norwegian libraries.
Norwegian public libraries, or associations or individuals that cooperate with libraries, are invited to apply. Choose your own topic and type of initiative. You can, for example, organise seminars, visits by authors, debate meetings, lectures or school projects.
The Fritt Ord Foundation is publishing this call for applications to promote New Norse fiction and non-fiction literature and to enhance interest in reading and encourage local debates. The project can be viewed in connection with the 200th anniversary of Ivar Aasen's birth in 2013.
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25.05.2012
Professor Quentin Skinner: The Genealogy of Freedom
"Freedom" – a controversial concept worthy of universal validity?
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Research Council of Norway and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture to be delivered by Quentin Skinner at Egget, the Student Centre, Parkveien 1, Bergen, at 2.15 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 June 2012.
Quentin Skinner (1940) is one of the leading intellectuals of our times. Not only has he made his mark on the subject of history and the history of political thought for generations of researchers the world over, but his thinking has had an impact on the contemporary socio-political debate. After exploring the modern concept of the state in the 1970s and 1980s, in recent years Skinner has reverted to the concept of freedom and developed what he calls "The Third Form of Liberty". Skinner currently holds a chair at Queen Mary, University of London.
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23.05.2012
Press Prizes for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 are awarded to five journalists and media in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
The Press Prizes for 2012 go to Khadija Ismayilova, one of the most important investigative journalists in Aserbaijan; the independent Caucasian magazine DOSH; Olga Romanova, one of the most high-profile investigative journalists and columnists for The New Times in Moscow; Valery Karbalevich from Minsk, the leading political commentator in the newspaper Svobodnyje Novosti Plus; and the weekly magazine Ukrainskyi Tyzhden from the Ukrainian capital city Kiev. The Press Prizes collectively amount to EUR 70 000.
The Press Prizes from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Foundation for 2012 will be awarded at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on Thursday, 24 May 2012, at 11 a.m. The speech to the prize laureates will be held by the Russian author and playwright Vladimir Sorokin: ‘Freedom is freedom’, and the speech on behalf of the prize laureates will be delivered by Khadija Ismayilova: ‘Breaking the loud silence’.
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14.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Sara Azmeh Rasmussen 10 May 2012
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Når jeg som tenåring satt på bønnematten kledd i en heldekkende hvit bønnedrakt og resiterte Koranen med ærefrykt, kunne jeg ikke forestille meg at jeg en dag skulle bli en religionskritiker, i hovedsak en islamkritiker. I dag har jeg mottatt Fritt Ords pris. I begrunnelsen blir min religionskritiske virke fremhevet. Enkelte kan komme til å tolke denne prisutdelingen som en offisiell støtte til en anti-islamsk stemme. Jeg har brent et slør, det som i dag er det tydeligste religiøse symbolet i islam, utfordret Islamsk Råd Norge i homofilispørsmål, støttet publiseringen av karikaturene og skrevet mange religionskritiske artikler gjennom de siste fem årene. Men gjør dette meg til en motstander av religion?
Religionskritikk er ikke et ensartet fenomen. Den rommer ulike posisjoner, tilnærmingsmåter og motiver. Det kan dreie seg om naturvitenskapelige, rasjonalistiske eller filosofisk-etiske diskusjoner. Den kan skje innenfor en teologisk ramme hvor intern kritikk søker nye forståelser av den egne tradisjonen. Det granskende blikket kan også tilhøre en som står på utsiden og som følgelig har et annet perspektiv enn den troende. Religionskritikk kan til slutt være mer eller mindre informert og nyansert. Dette mangfoldet av posisjoner gjør det ikke mulig å betegne all religionskritikk som fiendtlighet mot gudstro.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Speech by Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn 10 May 2012
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen har gjennom flere år vist et uvanlig ytringsmot, hun har satt viktige spørsmål på dagsordenen og beriket norsk offentlig debatt. Drivkraften har vært en usvikelig tro på menneskeverdet, på menneskets autonomi og frihet som grunnleggende rettigheter, og som avgjørende vekstbetingelser for humanitet og demokrati. Før jeg underbygger dette nærmere, er det nødvendig å fortelle litt om Saras bakgrunn.
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11.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 to Sara Azmeh Rasmussen
Press Release, 13 April 2012
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The decision of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation is based on the following grounds:
"Sara Azmeh Rasmussen is awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2012 for her courageous, uncompromising commitment to promoting the integrity of the individual, and to freedom of expression and criticism of religion."
The Freedom of Expression Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000 and it is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette crafted by Nils Aas. The award ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2012, at the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Stage 2, Oslo.
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen (born in 1973) has carved out a reputation over the past five years by using her distinctive voice in Norway's public debate. Her commitment is grounded in her respect for the value of human life. She has contributed to important debates about women and Islam, the persecution of homosexuals, and gender identity. She has also been unequivocal in discussions about surrogacy and child welfare. The struggle for democracy and reform in her home country of Syria has influenced her deeply, motivating her to contribute to the public debate.
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4.05.2012
The Freedom of Expression Foundation's Competition for Young People 2012
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2012 were announced on Friday, 20 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
The first prize was awarded to Alexander Thorstvedt from Stavanger Cathedral School for the project "Development and diversity in Stavanger's street art scene".
Third prize was awarded to Kaja Drews from the International School of Stavanger for the project "Chin Up, Chest Up: How do cosmetic surgery advertisements in the women’s magazine GLAMOUR entice people to seek physical changes?".
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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4.05.2012
European Photo Exhibitions Award 01: EUROPEAN IDENTITIES
New European photo exhibition opening at Haus der Photographie (House of Photography) in Deichtorhallen in Hamburg
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation is opening the exhibition with photo essays by 12 young European photographers on 3 May 2012, in collaboration with the Körber Foundation, Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Marie Sjøvold and Monica Larsen from Norway, and Hannah Modigh from Sweden have been chosen to represent Scandinavia by Eva Klerck Gange, curator at the National Museum, and Rune Eraker, photographer and curator of the project 'European Photo Exhibitions Award'.
Marie Sjøvold will be showing her series of photos entitled 'Midnight Milk', which explores what happens with our identity and self-image when we have children. Monica Larsen's photo essay is entitled 'Closer in the Distance', and it deals with migration, women and the role of a mother. 'Whispering Howls' is the name of Hannah Modigh's series of photos. She depicts young people's sense of identity during puberty.
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4.05.2012
World Press Freedom Day 2012
'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norwegian P.E.N., the Norwegian Press Association, the Association of Norwegian Editors, IPI Norway and the Norwegian UNESCO Commission invite the public to World Press Freedom Day 2012, from 1.00 - 5.00 p.m. on Thursday, 3 May 2012, at the premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo. The focus will be on 'Female journalists under attack' and 'Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July'.
Female journalists under attack
Featuring Taghreed El-Khodary, Khadija Ismayilova, Gry Larsen, Vigdis Lian, Hannah Storm, Helena Williams, Sidsel Wold. Moderator: Gro Holm.
Media, authorities and transparency in the wake of the terrorist attack on 22 July
Featuring Elisabeth Eide, Mina Gerhardsen, Trond Idås, Per Anders Johansen, Helje Solberg. Moderator: Ole Torp.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.05.2012
Opening Night –The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies*
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York City
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
PEN American Center, the Fritt Ord Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Open Society Institute invite the public to the Opening Night – The Kronos Quartet: Exit Strategies* - of PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature on Wednesday, 2 May 2012, 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave., New York City. With Rula Jebreal, Kronos Quartet, Tony Kushner, and Marjane Satrapi.
Can literature and music overlap and enhance one another? For the past three decades, the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet has demonstrated a spirit of fearless exploration, inviting audiences to rethink the nature and power of music.
In past collaborations with luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Howard Zinn, and Noam Chomsky, they have sampled both the written and spoken word, allowing the emotional reach of their music and the import of the word to amplify one another.
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27.04.2012
POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Free Word Centre, London, invite the public to the opening of the exhibition entitled POLITICS & OLYMPICS – Ideals and Realities at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 1 May, at the Free Word Centre at 60 Farringdon Road, London.
The photo exhibition and the related series of events will explore the complex relationship between politics and the Olympics. The project coincides with this year's Olympic Games in London, scheduled to open on 27 July. The exhibition shows how the Olympics have been an arena for political demonstrations, reflecting current political topics such as women's rights, racism, nationalism and globalisation.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has taken the initiative for and funded the exhibition and programme of events. The exhibition is being co-curated by Stephen Escritt and Nayia Yiakoumaki, and it will be on display at the Free Word Centre from 1 May–8 September 2012. The exhibition will also be hosted by Newcastle Central Library and Nottingham Central Library.
Read more about the exhibition and the programme of events.
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24.04.2012
Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square'
and debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Piraya Film invite the public to the Norwegian premier of the documentary film 'Back to the Square' – a film by Petr Lom – and a debate on the status of freedom of expression in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 from 5 to 7.30 p.m. at the Saga Cinema, theatre 2, Oslo.
After the film, there will be a debate between the director Petr Lom, the blogger Maikel Nabil and the activist Mark Nabil. The Nabil brothers are from Cairo. The session will be moderated by the author and journalist Sigrun Slapgard.
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF 'BACK TO THE SQUARE' IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at any of Oslo Kino's box offices. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis.
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12.04.2012
Russia's blogosphere
The Fritt Ord Foundation, the Petrusjka Foundation and The Future of Russian invite the public to the opening of Russia Week – Russia as Literature – featuring a seminar on the importance of bloggers in today's Russia, from 12–4 p.m. on Monday, 23 April 2012, at the Fritt Ord Foundation's venue at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Participants will include the blogger Anton Nosik, as well as the author Natalja Kljutsjarjova.
PROGRAMME FOR RUSSIA WEEK, 23–28 April 2012 (in Norwegian)
When did they enter the scene, what do they want and who are they?
Martin Paulsen, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Bergen
The Internet and Media in Russia
Kalle Kniivilä, journalist with Sydsvenska Dagbladet
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30.03.2012
Media and Politics in the Middle East
Fritt Ord and Polyteknisk Forening invite the public to an open seminar at Christiania Teater, Stortingsgt. 16, Oslo, on Tuesday, 17 April 2012, 18.45–20.30.
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Wadah Khanfar will be in dialogue with Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
One of the most striking phenomena of the international media scene is the rise of the Al Jazeera Network. How does media power influence world politics today, and what is the nature of Al Jazeera compared with the other major international networks? Are there perceptible trends in the media’s portrayal of the Nordic countries and their international engagements?
Moderator: Political Editor Hanne Skartveit, Verdens Gang
Wadah Khanfar is co-founder of the Sharq Forum and former director general of the Al Jazeera Network. He began his career with the network in 1997, covering some of the world’s key political zones. He was appointed chief of the Baghdad bureau, and later the network’s managing director.
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28.03.2012
What has been the significance of foundations in Norway, and what role can and should they play today?
Sparebank1 SMN and Allegro Finans hosted the inaugural meeting of the Foundation Forum in Trondheim on 21–22 March 2012, establishing a meeting place for employees and trustees of Norwegian foundations. The keynote speakers were Johan H. Andresen, Chief Executive Officer of Ferd, Trond Mohn, Chair of the Board of Directors of Frank Mohn AS, and Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn, Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation's Board of Trustees.
Read Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn's speech (Norwegian text).
21.03.2012
International support for the Fritt Ord Foundation's press prize laureate Khadija Ismayilova
Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova will be awarded the joint Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT Foundation Press Prize for 2012 at a ceremony in the Hamburg City Hall on 24 May this year. Khadija Ismayilova (1976) from Baku is one of the most important investigative journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 10 years, she has been active as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations, e.g. Ekhno, the Caspian Business News, Deutsche Welle, the Washington Times and above all for the Eurasia Net and Radio Liberty. Consequently, she is an invaluable informant about Azerbaijani matters for an international audience.
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Khadija Ismayilova bravely reports on corruption, the abuse of power and breaches of human rights, and does not subject herself to self-censorship. She was nominated by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights House Foundation, Oslo. An independent jury chaired by Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large with Die ZEIT, decided to award one of this year's Press Prizes to Khadija Ismayilova.
Khadija Ismayilova has recently been the target of a blackmailing campaign that has been strongly condemned by the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (IPGA).
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9.03.2012
Steven Pinker to speak at the opening of the Science Library at the University of Oslo
The Science Library at the University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to the opening address followed by a panel discussion in the auditorium of the Sophus Lie Building on the Blindern Campus from 3.00-4.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 March 2012.
Steven Pinker will speak about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.
Steven Pinker is an author and professor of Psychology at Harvard University in the USA. Pinker has received a number of distinctions for his research and how he communicates his findings, and his contributions have figured in a number of international debates. In the book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (2011), Pinker describes the history of violence, and argues that even though violence and war dominate the news, we are living in an age in which humanity may possibly be less violent than ever before.
Professor Nils Chr. Stenseth, President of the Norwegian Academy of Science, will chair a panel discussion that will also include Scott Gates, a professor at the Centre for the Study of Civil War, PRIO, and Vibeke Ottesen, a criminologist and PhD fellow at Oslo University Hospital.
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29.02.2012
Free Speech Debate: Take part in international debate on free speech
Free Speech Debate is a global, multilingual website for the discussion of free speech in the age of mass migration and the internet. Ten draft principles for global free speech are laid out, together with explanations and case studies – all for debate. Prominent figures from diverse cultures, faiths and political tendencies are interviewed and asked to comment, through video, audio and text. We have Indian novelist Arundhati Roy on the media and national security in India; Iranian cleric Mohsen Kadivar on Islam and the criminalisation of insults to religion; Chinese academic Yan Xuetong on universal values; former head of the Formula One association Max Mosley on privacy; Tim Wu on internet freedom; and a wide range of individual case studies.
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Individual users from across the world are strongly encouraged to take part in the online discussion. They can propose new case studies and suggest revised or entirely new principles. Other forms of popular participation include online voting, live streamed events, online conversations with special guests and crowdsourcing.
The website is actively moderated by, and the original content generated by, an international team at Oxford University, working under the leadership of Timothy Garton Ash. This is part of a project which Fritt Ord granted for GBP 80,000 in 2010.
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29.02.2012
FutureLab Europe – The Council of Young European Citizens
Call for applications for 2012
FutureLab Europe was established in 2011 as a cooperative project between 10 European foundations (European Alliance for Democratic Citizenship). The Fritt Ord Foundation is one of these foundations. The programme focuses on engaged young people between the ages of 20 and 30 who would like to take part in debates and influence the future of Europe. The closing date for applications for the next programme is 1 March 2012.
Foreign and security policy, financial crises, solidarity and sustainable energy policy are just a few of the areas in which Europe faces formidable challenges in the 21st century. How should we meet these challenges, and how can engaged young Europeans contribute?
The very foundation of FutureLab Europe is a one-week course to be held in Brussels and organised in collaboration with the European Policy Centre (EPC). Further, the programme will comprise four annual public discussion events under the title: Debating Europe. One of them will be arranged in Brussels and the others in other European cities. At these meetings, the members will discuss European issues with key politicians, decision makers and experts at the national and European levels.
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29.02.2012
Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR
The Kudos Family and the Fritt Ord Foundation have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian premier of Zentropa Real's THE AMBASSADOR. Introduction by Director Mads Brügger. Venue: Folketeateret, Storgata 21-23, Oslo, at 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, 1 March, during Filmfest Oslo. Two free tickets to the premier can be picked up in return for showing this invitation at the Folketeateret ticket booth between 12 and 6 p.m. The tickets will be given away on an ongoing basis. The final deadline is Tuesday, 28 February.
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The enigmatic Dane Mr Cortzen pays NOK 800,000 to be named Liberia's ambassador to one of Africa's least successful states. He travels there and sets up the embassy in a hotel suite. Gin & tonics, champagne, cigars and money flow freely.
Officially, Mr Cortzen is a philanthropic businessman and factory owner who intends to provide schools and jobs for the poverty-stricken local population. The truth is that he has come to fill his suitcases with blood diamonds. But Cortzen is not like the other diplomats; he secretly films his new life, inviting us on a risky but entertaining odyssey into a dark and dangerous universe.
“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”
SEE THE TRAILER www.ambassadøren.no
INVITATION TO THE NORWEGIAN PREMIER OF THE AMBASSADOR IN OSLO – 2 FREE TICKETS
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29.02.2012
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of 1812 and its Aftermath in Northern Europe
The Russian-Swedish Treaty of St. Petersburg was signed on 5 April (24 March old style) 1812 by Tsar Alexander I and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Carl Johan, until recently known as Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and Prince of Ponte Corvo, had accepted an invitation to become Crown Prince of Sweden. The invitation was based on the expectation that Bernadotte would reinforce, rather than terminate, Sweden’s links to France and Napoleon.
The conference is organised by the Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, and the Institute for Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø and the Institute for Defence Studies, Norwegian Defence University College, Oslo. It will take place at Hotel Astoria, St Petersburg.
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29.02.2012
Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture entitled 'Paranormality – why do we see what is not there?' featuring Richard Wiseman from 6 to 7 p.m. on Friday, 17 February 2012 in the Sophus Lie auditorium at the Blindern campus of the University of Oslo.
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
A former magician, Richard Wiseman is a professor of Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, England. He has investigated gurus in India, performed research on psychic dogs and is currently researching why many people believe in supernatural phenomena.
In his latest book, Paranormality (2012), Wiseman rejects all supernatural phenomena and shows why experiences can feel genuine even though such phenomena do not exist.
This lecture will open the 'Norwegian Conference on Scepticism - Critical Mass' and is a joint effort on the part of Critical Mass, the University of Oslo Science Library and the Humanist Publishing House. The event is a step in the project entitled ‘Science Debate’.
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29.02.2012
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi
Press Release - 9 February 2012
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has resolved to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Louiza Louhibi. The Board's grounds:
Louiza Louhibi is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Tribute for her courage in the debate about sexualised violence against women and for actively opposing extreme attitudes that are based on religious and political prejudices.
The Tribute will be awarded by Fritt Ord Board Member Frank Rossavik at Fritt Ord's premises at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 February 2012.
Louiza Louhibi was violently attacked and raped in Oslo in 2008. The perpetrator also raped three other women. Han was sentenced to seven years of preventive detention, based, among other things, on Louhibi's testimony.
Louhibi entered the public debate on rape last autumn: "I became a rape victim in 2008. But you can't spend your whole life being a victim. Take action against rape now!" she wrote on Twitter. She followed up by giving several newspaper interviews and making TV appearances.
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6.02.2012
While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a preview screening of the documentary film entitled Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile and the panel debate While Sri Lanka is still counting the dead – is there a need for an independent international investigation? on Thursday, 9 February 2012, from 6.00–8.00 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Theatre 1, in Oslo. Tickets: Oslo Kino – www.oslokino.no
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Nearly three years have passed since the civil war on Sri Lanka came to an end. Over the past year, Frances Harrison has traced the stories of the survivors of the final phase of the civil war on Sri Lanka in 2009. Harrison has interviewed refugees about living in the war zone. She tells about how the authorities on Sri Lanka shut international journalists and aid workers out, so that there were no independent witnesses to the war crimes. The results will be published in the book: Still Counting the Dead, scheduled for release later this year. Many are currently advocating the establishment of an independent international investigation. Bashana Abeywardane is trying to understand the strikingly high number of civilian victims reported during the war. Were the atrocities committed with consent and participation from abroad? If so, why?
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27.01.2012
The Global Economy: Crisis Without End
Adriaen Isenbrant
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
Man Weighing Gold, 1515–20.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
The Friedsam Collection
From Europe to Beijing to Washington, Can the World’s Economic System Cope?
February 17, 2012; 6 p.m.
A panel discussion co-sponsored by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Review of Books, and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo.
The New York Review of Books brings together contributors Edmund Phelps, Paul Krugman, George Soros, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, to discuss the number one issue of the day: the financial crisis facing the world. Each panelist will present his views and then join in a discussion, followed by a question and answer session. Metropolitan Museum of Art Director Thomas P. Campbell introduces the evening, setting cultural production within the broader context of global economics.
Introduced by Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
With panelists:
Paul Krugman*
Edmund Phelps*
Jeffrey D. Sachs
George Soros
Chair: Robert Silvers
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19.01.2012
Pre-premiere of ‘Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile’ and panel debate
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate and film screening of Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile on Thursday 9 February 2012, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Vika Cinema (Vika 1) in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate after the documentary film screening featuring director Beate Arnestad, and Bashana Abeywardane, journalist and writer from Sri Lanka living in exile, writer and former BBC Foreign Correspondent in Sri Lanka Frances Harrison and Sverre Tom Radøy, journalist in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-organiser is Human Rights Human Wrongs Documentary Film Festival.
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Due to great interest for this event we have decided to move the debate and film screening to sal 1 at Vika Cinema. There are still available tickets.
Silenced Voices – Tales of Sri Lankan Journalists in Exile is a film of freedom of speech and the messengers of truth to portray how much individuals are willing to offer to bring information to light. The film is told as a personal encounter with exiled journalists from Sri Lanka who have been “silenced” and almost killed in their home country because they exposed war crimes, corruption and massacres of civilians. They claim these crimes are being committed by the state. Sri Lanka is ranking one of the worst countries in Asia with respect to freedom of expression. In the past years, many have disappeared or are found tortured and killed. Close to 50 media workers have recently fled the country.
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19.01.2012
Writing Competition on Freedom of Expression 2012
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
REGISTRATION
Deadline for registration for 2012: 1 February 2012
Deadline for submitting contributions: 15 February 2012
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Major questions about freedom of speech have become very timely in the wake of the 22 July tragedy.
What is evil, and how can society deal with it?
What is the point of punishment? Should capital punishment be reconsidered in connection with the genocide and mass murder?
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1.12.2011
The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics
The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference "The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics" at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the "dark web" of the "counterjihad". What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?
Registration by December 2: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme:
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17.11.2011
Your personal genome
The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to an open discussion entitled "Your personal genome" at Håndverkeren, Rosenkrantz’ gate 7, Oslo, from 11.30 a.m.–3.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 November 2011.
A revolution is taking place in genetics: These days, it is easy and inexpensive to map the DNA of each and every one of us. This opens up whole new opportunities in public health care as well as in research. Meanwhile, these opportunities raise some ethical dilemmas for individuals, families and society-at-large. What would you like to know about your hereditary traits and diseases? Should others be allowed to read your DNA code?
Lone Frank, scientific journalist in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen, author of the book My Pretty Genome (2010).
Commentators:
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16.11.2011
What ever happened to Harald Hardråde?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar "What ever happened to Harald Hardråde? Norway and Europe 1000 years ago". The event will take place at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 11.00 a.m.–1.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Volume 5 of Tormod Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway has now been published; it covers about 500 pages from around 1020 to 1066. The book discusses Norwegian history from the perspective of kings' lives and wars.
Professor Øystein Rian: Tormod Torfæus – the man and the historian
Professor Margrét Eggertsdóttir: Torfæus and the Learned on Iceland and in Denmark in the 1600s
Professor Torgrim Titlestad: The stories that disappeared, but are recounted in Torfæus
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14.11.2011
Universities under Attack
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10.11.2011
Erik Rudeng appointed as the new Chair of the EFC
Fritt Ord's Director Erik Rudeng is appointed as the new Chair for the European Foundation Centre (EFC) 2011–2014.
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
A press release from the EFC reads:
"Erik Rudeng was appointed as the new Chair of the EFC at an Extraordinary General Assembly of members on 7 November in Brussels.
Mr Rudeng has been Director of Institusjonen Fritt Ord (Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norway) since 2001, and immediately lead the foundation to become an engaged member of the EFC.
Mr Rudeng has a strong history of involvement with the EFC, namely through his commitment to its Communications and Research Committee, his role as Chair of both the 2008 AGA and Conference Programme Committee and more recently of the Governance Task Force.
The EFC welcomes Mr Rudeng as its new Chair and looks forward to the next years under his guidance."
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9.11.2011
The Voice of Burma
Fritt Ord invites the public to a discussion about and a preview screening of the documentary film "The Voice of Burma" by Turid Rogne at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
“The Voice of Burma” presents the radio and TV station, the Democratic Voice of Burma, throughout the past decade's historic events in Burma. After the film screening, there will be a discussion about Burma – an incipient democracy? The panel will discuss new democratic tendencies and the trend in media freedom and freedom of expression in Burma one year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Director Turid Rogne will be joined by Aye Chan Naing from the Democratic Voice of Burma and Inger Lise Husøy from the Norwegian Burma Committee.
Co-organiser: Alligator
24.10.2011
European Photo Exhibition Award (epea)
Four European Foundations launch a new Award for Photography
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Press release October 2011
The European Photo Exhibition Award – epea for short – aims to create a free space where socially relevant topics concerning Europe are developed and discussed by talented photographers who live and work in Europe and who still are at an early stage of establishing themselves as professional photographers. The twelve appointed photographers will translate their observations, analyses and statements on a set and socially relevant subject into a photo essay. The results will be presented in a joint touring exhibition within Europe.
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20.10.2011
The right to have children? Requirements for parents?
The Biotechnology Advisory Board, the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) invite the public to an open debate to be held at the Conference Center, Sparebank1 SMN, Søndre gate 4, Trondheim, from 6 to 8.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 October 2011.
Biotechnology is enabling more and more people to become parents. Norwegian law places limits on who can take advantage of these opportunities. While heterosexuals and lesbian couples are considered candidates for assisted reproduction, single people and gay men are not. Does this constitute discrimination or justified differential treatment of different family types? Doctors should also consider a couple's ability to provide care and take the best interest of the child into account. How should doctors decide who are fit to be parents?
Speakers:
Fertility specialist: Vidar von Düring, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
Family doctor: Marte Walstad, Ranheim Medical Centre
Lawyer: Professor Hans Petter Graver, University of Oslo
Writer: Sara Mats Azmeh Rasmussen
Philosopher and ethics expert: Professor Berge Solberg, NTNU
Moderator: Professor Arne Sunde, St. Olav's Hospital/NTNU
4.10.2011
How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings in autumn 2011 in the series 'How are we going to make a living in Norway in future?'.
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Is the Government Pension Fund, also known as the Oil Fund, increasingly giving Norway a false sense of security? Should long-term investments in Norwegian education and research, infrastructure and cutting-edge expertise be strengthened significantly? How can initiatives to promote a more forward-looking industrial structure be reconciled with the best Norwegian social traditions? These and other questions will be explored in three upcoming meetings.
The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 7 - 9 p.m. on 11, 18 and 25 October 2011.
Venue: The House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo
Pre-Registration: www.polyteknisk.no
Tuesday, 18 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m.: 'Norway's future business and industry'
What drives innovation, restructuring and value creation? What should we do today to promote business and industry tomorrow?
Debate featuring: Professor Torger Reve, Norwegian School of Management, Division Director Anne Kjersti Fahlvik, Research Council of Norway, Bård Vegar Solhjell, Head of the Parliamentary Group of The Socialist Left Party and former Minister of Education and Research, Research Director Torbjorn Hægeland, Statistics Norway, and Advisor/R & D Director Per Olav Skjervold, Aga Halibut
Moderator: Economist Camilla Bakken Øvald
The meeting is part of the programme for Oslo Innovation Week.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011, 7 – 9 p.m. 'Norwegian industry - at home or abroad?'
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4.10.2011
Photographers and Projects
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) invite the public to a seminar and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Monday, 10 October 2011 under the title 'Photographers and projects'.
The role of the photographer is in flux. Given the growing number of photographers and the strong differentiation between media channels, more photographers are being forced to explore alternative forms of project development and funding. It is especially interesting to explore the possibilities for long-term photographic projects.
Photographers Alex Webb (Magnum Photos) and Rebecca Norris Webb present "Together and Apart". The presentation is a varied selection of their works, including images from Alex Webb's latest book The Suffering of Light: Thirty Years of Photographs (2011), and works from Rebecca Norris Webb's forthcoming book My Dakota.
Josh Lustig, project manager at the London-based photography agency Panos Pictures, discusses various models for project work. He explains how international photography agencies operate in a challenging market today.
Moderator: Rune Eraker, photographer
www.njp.no
4.10.2011
Death in Camp Delta
Fritt Ord and Borgen Production AS invite the public to the premiere of the documentary film and a seminar at Saga Cinema, Oslo, on 5 and 6 October 2011: Death in Camp Delta – a film by Erling Borgen. The film will premier in Theatre 1 at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 October, and the seminar will be in Theatre 2 from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 October.
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The seminar participants will include the released Guantanamo detainees Moazzam Begg (England, head of the Guantanamo Prisoners' Association), Omar Deghayes (Libya), Walid Hajj (Sudan) and Sami al-Hajj (Sudan), as well as Talal al-Zahrani (Saudi Arabia), father of prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani who died at Guantanamo in 2006. Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Center for Policy and Research, Seton Hall University School of Law, USA, other lawyers who have worked to ensure the Guantanamo prisoners' legal rights and Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, USA, will also be taking part. The panel will also include Norwegian participants. Terje Svabø will be moderator.
To register for the film premier and/or the seminar: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Download folder (pdf)
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4.10.2011
22 July and the Fritt Ord Foundation's project support
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation held an extraordinary meeting on 15 August to reflect upon the tragedy of 22 July.
Fritt Ord perpetuates the emphasis enshrined in the Foundation's Articles of Association as regards freedom of expression and the conditions for freedom of expression in Norwegian society. In the time ahead, it will be natural to pay special attention to projects which, in different media formats, can contribute to knowledge and a broader debate on the terrorist attacks and their human and social consequences.
In particular, the Fritt Ord Foundation will earmark up to MNOK 15 for initiatives from individuals and groups among young people up to age 30 for such illuminating, problematising projects. Partners may, for example, be teachers, schools, teams and organisations, libraries, and literary and cultural centres. Applications will be reviewed in batches during the autumn of 2011.
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19.09.2011
Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in Auditorium 3, Kristine Bonnevie's Building (Biology Building), Blindern Campus, from 2.15 to 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 September 2011.
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Professor Lawrence M. Krauss, Arizona State University, will deliver a lecture entitled “Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions”. The equations of physics give rise to theoretical possibilities for travelling through space and time, and for unknown worlds with 10 or 11 dimensions. Many are fascinated by these ideas. Do such worlds exist?
Krauss is an internationally recognised physicist and one of the USA's leading intellectuals. He actively bridges the gap between science and popular culture, and he has won many awards for his research and for his commitment to the advancement of science and critical thinking. He is the author of books such as Fear of Physics (1994) and The Physics of Star Trek (1995).
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1.09.2011
Freedom of Expression Tribute to Odd S. Lovoll
Press release, 1 September 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation has decided to award the Freedom of Expression Tribute to Professor Odd S. Lovoll. The tribute will be awarded to Dr Lovoll by Guri Hjeltnes, a member of Fritt Ord's Board of Trustees, on Tuesday, 6 September 2011, at 5 p.m., in the Fritt Ord Foundation's premises at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Following the ceremony, Professor Lovoll will lecture on "A forgotten cultural heritage: The remarkable flourishing of the Norwegian-American immigrant press".
The Freedom of Expression Tribute is being awarded to Odd S. Lovoll for his significant contribution to writing the history of Norwegian America.
Through his comprehensive body of work, Odd S. Lovoll has shed light on a wide variety of Norwegian-American topics. The recipient of the Tribute has published general accounts and specific studies, covering not least the Norwegian regional societies (bygdelag) in America and immigrants' lives in Chicago and in small prairie towns. His latest book, Norwegian Newspapers in America, is a standard work on the Norwegian-American press.
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23.08.2011
MNOK 2 for the promotion of poetry in public libraries
This past spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation invited applications for grants of NOK 50 000 each for the promotion of Norwegian and foreign poetry by public libraries in Norway. The Foundation received approx. 70 applications, and a decision has been made to award funding to 42 applicants. Collectively, some MNOK 2 will be distributed to libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
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14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to projects that are innovative, and has tried to capture the full range of poetry-related activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from the presentation of everything from Bob Dylan's lyrics and Hafez’ poetry in Norwegian translation to Trymskvida and nursery rhymes. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. poetry readings, festivals, lectures, theatre productions, competitions, concerts, courses and visual poetry. The initiatives address all age groups.
Four examples of projects receiving support:
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20.06.2011
Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn new Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
After 11 years as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fritt Ord Foundation, Francis Sejersted has decided to step down. He has played an exceedingly important role in the development of Fritt Ord. Georg Fr. Rieber-Mohn (65) has been elected the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Rieber-Mohn has been a Deputy Chair of the Fritt Ord Foundation Board for years, and he is deeply committed to issues involving freedom of expression and to the Foundation's activities.
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20.06.2011
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Francis Sejersted: Erfaringer med styrearbeid i stiftelser
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
14.06.2011
Programme: Fritt Ord's and Zeit-Stiftung's Press Prizes
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Zeit-Stiftung invite the public to the Awards Ceremony of The Fritt Ord Prize: Free Press of Russia and The Gerd Bucerius Prize: Free Press of Eastern Europe.
Venue: The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Henrik Ibsens gate 51
Date and time: Wednesday, 15 June, 9.30 a.m.
Registration required by June 14: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Opening image
"Beginning and Ending" (music: Trygve Seim)
Welcome
Francis Sejersted, Chair, the Fritt Ord Foundation
Keynote Address
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
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9.06.2011
Press Prizes 2011 for Russia and Eastern Europe
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011, 9.30–11.30 a.m. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre will deliver the keynote address at the Awards Ceremony. The journalist Maryna Koktysh from the newspaper Narodnaya Volya in Minsk, Belarus, will deliver the Speech on behalf of the Laureates.
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysh and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
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9.06.2011
Freedom of Expression in South Africa Today
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to an event featuring the South African author André Brink, professor of Literature at the University of Cape Town, on Monday, 6 June 2011, from 5 to 6.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. Moderator: Robert Sember, an artist from South Africa who is affiliated with Ultra-red of New York.
André Brink will deliver a lecture on ’Freedom of expression in South Africa today’ and read from his biography A Fork in the Road, which was recently published in Norwegian, before he engaging in dialogue with the audience. Brink's books have played a major role in the lives of many South Africans. André Brink belongs to a generation of writers that has witnessed apartheid's widespread impact on black and white South Africans alike. Brink himself has been active in the anti-apartheid movement and he was a prominent critic of the country's oppressive regime and censorship. His novel Looking on Darkness from 1973 was the first book written in the Afrikaans language to be banned in South Africa.
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9.06.2011
Poetic Practice – grants for the dissemination of poetry through libraries 2011-12
verse | visual poetry | rap | lyrics | poetry slam | haiku
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of
NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives including Norwegian or foreign language poetry. The programme should target the general public, and activities may include seminars, visits from authors, concerts, exhibitions, debates or online dissemination. The individual library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like.
Closing date for applications: 20 June 2011.
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9.06.2011
Tony Judt: A Distinctive Presence Among Us
A Conference to Celebrate His Life and Work
The New York Review of Books, CERI Sciences-Po of Paris, the Remarque Institute of New York University, and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a seminar on June 23–25, 2011 at CERI Sciences-Po, 56 rue Jacob, Paris. The seminar is free and open to all.
Bill Bradley | Jean Daniel | Alain Dieckhoff | Ronald Dworkin | Katherine Fleming | Simon Head | Cathrine Holst | Yves-André Istel | Denis Lacorne | Christian Lequesne | Samuel Moyn | Sari Nusseibeh | Avner Offer | Thomas Piketty | Jacques Rupnik | Pierre Rosanvallon | Richard Sennett | Robert Silvers | Jean-François Sirinelli | Anne Marie Slaughter | Fritz Stern | Zeev Sternhell | Jonas Gahr Støre
For full program visit www.nybooks.com/calendar.
Registration required at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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9.06.2011
Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU
The EEA Review Committee and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to 10 open meetings in the spring of 2011 in the series Outside & Inside – Norway and the EU.
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Norway is not a member of the EU. At the same time, Norway is closely affiliated with the EU through the EEA, Schengen and a number of other agreements. What are we actually part of – and not part of? How do Norway's agreements with the EU affect Norwegian society? How does Norway manage to deal with EU relations when we want to be outside and inside at the same time?
Tuesday, 24 May from 7 to 9 p.m. at the House of Literature, Oslo: 'Outside, inside or both? Norway's European dilemma'
Norway's relationship with the EU is based on the EEA agreement as the main pillar, supplemented by the Schengen agreement as well as a number of other agreements. What type of model is this? What are the effects, and what does the road ahead look like? Is it a fundamental dilemma that Norway wants to be inside and outside at the same time?
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in ”hardtalk” with Fredrik Sejersted, leader of the EEA Review Committee
Comments from Magnus Takvam (NRK)
Moderator: Liv Monica Stubholt (deputy of the EEA Review Committee)
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16.05.2011
Exotic Spheres in Seven Dimensions
The University of Oslo and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture in the cafeteria on the ground floor of the Biology Building (Kristine Bonnevies hus), Blindern campus, from 3.15 p.m. to 4.15 p.m. on Thursday, 19 May 2011.
On 24 May, John Milnor will be awarded the Abel Prize for 2011, i.a. for his work with “exotic spheres in seven dimensions”. Is this the least bit comprehensible to anyone? Arne B. Sletsjøe will attempt to make the concept more intelligible by drawing the mathematical and historical lines from Abel and forward to a discussion of John Milnor's work.
See www.abelprisen.no/en/prisvinnere/2011/ for for a popular presentation of this year's Abel Prize laureate and earlier prize laureates written by Arne B. Sletsjøe.
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5.05.2011
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer.
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
According to the articles of foundation, the Freedom of Expression Foundation's paramount object is "to protect and strengthen freedom of expression and its terms in Norway, especially by encouraging a dynamic debate and the fearless use of free speech”. ”Encourage a dynamic debate” and ”the fearless use of free speech” – these phrases are certainly eminently appropriate for this year's prize laureate. I would also like to add or state more precisely the importance of his work to convey information that can only be collected through courage and ingenuity, as it is otherwise not easily accessible. As pointed out by the Freedom of Expression Commission, freedom of information is an integral and profoundly important part of the broader concept of freedom of expression.
Hammer is being awarded the Freedom of Expression Prize for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Norway is at war; that much we know. But it is a war being fought so dreadfully far away. It is so peaceful here at home that it is difficult to envisage the brutality of the war, but the soldiers we send over there encounter it every day. The great distance also makes it difficult to get involved in what we are fighting for so far away. It all began with the 11th September and the war on terror. Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida were to be taken to prevent terrorist attacks on the West. But many other considerations have been added to the list since then. The military presence is now supposed to help develop a better society for the Afghans. And development cooperation coordinated by the UN has to an ever greater extent complemented the military activities. Combating the far-reaching oppression of women throughout society is mentioned often. But as Hammer dryly comments in his book, The Dream War, it is hard to see how foreign soldiers seeking out rebels can contribute to general women's liberation.
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18.04.2011
Russia Week – Russia as an experience
Russia and Russians have experienced furious, at times brutal, economic, social and cultural development over the past 20 years. Their experiences are being embodied in their literature, a vehicle that brings those experiences to all of us. To promote understanding of contemporary Russian literature, Russia Week will be organised from 26–30 April 2011. Seven contemporary novels and three new interpretive renderings will be presented. Three Russian authors will be joining us from Russia. The Petrusjka Association has taken this initiative.
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Petrusjka invite the public to the opening of Russia Week with the seminar 'Relief, refreshment, shock?' Tuesday, 26 April, 1.00–4.00 p.m., at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, with the Russian author Aleksei Slapovsky and theatre manager of the National Theatre, Hanne Tømta, Øyvind Nordsletten, Peter Normann Waage. Moderator: Marit Bjerkeng.
See also: www.petrusjka.no
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18.04.2011
Russia in Two Acts
The New York Review of Books, PEN American Center and Fritt Ord join forces to explore Russia’s current political, literary and overall cultural life in all its complexity.
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Watch a World Champion chess player, now journalist, unravel the complexities of Russia’s cultural and geopolitical landscape. In Part One of this event, Garry Kasparov will offer his personal spin on the state of contemporary Russian politics and culture. After a brief intermission, a panel of Russian experts—from critics to novelists—will comment on Kasparov’s talk and engage in a debate about where this mammoth country is headed. With Jamey Gambrell, Garry Kasparov, Vladmir Sorokin, and Fedor Svarovskiy; moderated by Christian Caryl.
Sunday, 1 May 2011, 1 p.m., at The Morgan Library & Museum, Lehrman Hall, 225 Madison Ave., New York City.
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18.04.2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation's Competition for Young People 2011
The winners of the Fritt Ord Foundation Competition for Young People 2011 were announced on Friday, 15 April, during an event at the Research Park in Oslo.
1st prize: Anna Rømcke Høiseth, Frogn Upper Secondary School, for her essay: "The Line Between Good and Evil"
2nd prize: Hanne Katinka Halvorsen, Pallavi Puri, Oda Børeng, Vartika Sarna and Belma Focak, Oslo Cathedral School, for their essay: "The fashion magazine 'Det Nye'"
3rd prize: Tala Katarina Ram, International School of Stavanger, for her essay: "How do the speeches of Shoghi Effendi, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey inspire hope through the creative use of rhetoric?"
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8 000 and third prize for NOK 7 000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where all the prize laureates will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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18.04.2011
Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 to Anders Sømme Hammer
Press Release, 13 April 2011
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
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8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation has based its decision on the following reasons:
”Anders Sømme Hammer is awarded the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2011 for his independent, critical coverage of the war in Afghanistan. He lives in Afghanistan, where he works as a freelance journalist. By travelling around the country without an escort and at great personal risks, he manages to come into close contact with Afghan civilians. His critical analyses also address the media coverage of the war.”
The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The amount of the prize is NOK 400 000. The prize is accompanied by the Fritt Ord Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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24.03.2011
Ten photographers selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP)
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of the NJP received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. Scheduled for publication in autumn 2012, the book will also be launched internationally. It is the result of a process entailing follow up of the photographers selected for inclusion in master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no.
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The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has risen dramatically in the past 10-15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 were worthy of selection. These 10 were chosen because the editors feel they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such long-term projects. At the same time, it was considered important that the photographers chosen would complement each other to some extent, and that they would be capable of learning from each other’s experiences and different approaches. Last, but not least, they are in a position where the opportunity to bring their work to an international audience has the potential to make a major difference.
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28.02.2011
Fritt Ord Press Prizes for 2011 awarded to six courageous journalists and media
The Fritt Ord Foundation (Oslo) and the ZEIT Foundation (Hamburg) are awarding six press prizes in 2011. Prizes totalling EUR 70 000 are being awarded to four journalists, one newspaper and one news portal. The winners of the prizes for journalists are Natalja Ivanishina, Zamin Haji, Maryna Koktysch and Natalja Ligachova from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Ukraine, respectively. The weekly newspaper Chernovik from Russia and the Internet portal A1+ from Armenia have won the media prizes.
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
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Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The press prizes are awarded in an effort to strengthen the independent role of journalists and the media, despite reprisals and financial difficulties, and to recognise the laureates' determination not to be scared off by censorship and to resist self-censorship.
The Press Prizes for 2011 will be handed out at the Norwegian Nobel Institute on Wednesday, 15 June 2011.
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25.02.2011
Marshall McLuhan Revisited
– A Centennial Conference on Marshall McLuhan’s contributions to media theory and vision of a new media society
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the seminar 'Marshall McLuhan Revisited' on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, from 10.00–16.00 at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
New generations are once again discovering McLuhan’s ideas, and older generations are reconsidering them in the light of a broader perspective on his contribution. McLuhan’s astonishing eclecticism and vision remain fascinating, if confusing, axial points for thoughts on the modern world, including its means of perception and communication. In this seminar, international scholars address McLuhan’s far-reaching theories of the media as related to changes in culture and technology.
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25.02.2011
Empty premises – a seminar on neo-urbanity in Groruddalen
Heimstadlære and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a discussion at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Wednesday, 9 March 2011, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
How can local town centres be revitalised to help foster more urban life in the suburbs? Rolled-down security gates and closed stores are a reality in several local centres in Groruddalen. These centres have lost the battle for the major chains. And while many cultural players lack premises in the central business district, Groruddalen has vacant premises that could offer space for new activities and meeting places for many people. Perhaps more local town centres could take on a new role? Specific examples can help show the way.
There will be a debate after the introductory comments by Erling Dokk Holm, Siri Jæger Brudvik, Ulrika Staugaard, Gitte Juul, Søren Møller Christensen, Peter Groth and Trude Mette Johansen.
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25.02.2011
A balloon for Allah – women and Islam
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the premier of Nefise Özkal Lorentzen’s documentary film A balloon for Allah on Thursday, 3 March 2011, at 5 p.m. at Saga Cinema (cinema 1) in Oslo.
The Egyptian feminist and writer Nawal El Saadawi will be coming directly from Cairo to speak about the role of women in Muslim cultures and women's struggle for freedom under the current revolution in Egypt.
Musical interludes: Namaa al Ward and Hege Rimestad.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
NB! The premier is now fully booked.
When the Norwegian-Turkish filmmaker Nefise Özkal Lorentzen was little, she used to send letters to Allah by balloon. Now she wants to send a new balloon to change the role of women in the Muslim culture. By following her grandmother's path as a 'sufi', she embarks on a journey to rediscover the Islam of her mother's mother. The film switches between her actual journey and her dreams. She experiences the diversity of Cairo, Istanbul and Oslo by drinking tea with the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, finding hope and inspiration in the life of the 90-year-old author Gamal al-Banna and meeting a young Salafist. On her journey through the labyrinth, it dawns on Nefise that Islam is not the only place to search, but that there are correlations between the three Abrahamic religion and the oppression of women.
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18.02.2011
Peter Agre: Science Diplomacy – from Oslo to Pyongyang
The University of Oslo Library and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture and discussion in the auditorium "Smalltalk" in the Ole-Johan Dahl Building (IFI2) at Gaustadbekkdalen on Thursday, 24 February 2011, from 2.15–4.30 p.m.
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Dr Peter Agre, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and Honorary Doctor at the University of Oslo, discusses his experience with scientific diplomacy after his stays in North Korea. In a globalised but conflict-prone world, can scientists play an important part in diplomacy or does this imply a worrying confusion of roles? Drawing inspiration from Fridtjof Nansen's wide range of activities as a scientist diplomat, Dr Agre aspires to promote international understanding and cooperation. Read more about Dr Peter Agre here.
The exhibition ”In memory of Ole-Johan Dahl” will be open to the public after the lecture.
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22.12.2010
Lapp Hat uncensored – Sami policy and political debate in Finnmark County?
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a debate on and film screening of 'Lapp Hat' on Wednesday, 12 January 2011, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo. There will be an introduction and a debate featuring director Guro Saniola Bjerk and Bjørn Sørenssen, professor of Film Science, Einar Niemi, professor of History and Anne Julie Semb, associate professor of Political Science.
Guro Saniola Bjerk's documentary film 'Lapp Hat' directs critical attention to Norway's Sami policy and its repercussions in Finnmark County, where the first comprehensive Sami policy measures were implemented, and where the Sami policy debate has been especially intense. The film has attracted a great deal of attention at a number of film festivals in Norway over the past year. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation has already postponed the screening of the film twice.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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17.12.2010
Fritt Ord Foundation founds the Norwegian Journal of Photography
In founding the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) and in collaboration with photographers and picture editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, the Fritt Ord Foundation wishes to establish a forum for independent documentary photography. NJP will publish a large-format book intended to present the best of Norwegian documentary photography and invites both seasoned and younger photographers to submit project ideas which can give them the opportunity to be one of the 10 photographers selected. The closing date for applications is 15 February 2011, and the editorial board will hand down its decision by 25 March 2011. The first book will be published in autumn 2012. See: www.njp.no
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
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8.12.2010
Harald Eia, Dag Hessen and Bjørn Vassnes receive the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute
The Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute acknowledges remarkable efforts to promote free speech, often in connection with current events. The tribute is accompanied by NOK 100 000 to each recipient. The Fritt Ord Foundation's Board has resolved to award the following tributes:
Harald Eia is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, through the programme Brainwash, having precipitated one of the most heated debates on research in recent times.
Dag Olav Hessen is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for, in an engaging manner, having conveyed scientific insight and making well-grounded contributions to the public debate.
Bjørn Roar Vassnes is awarded the Fritt Ord Foundation Tribute for his all-round, critical and independent contributions to the communication of scientific knowledge and debate.
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2.12.2010
Drew Endy: Synthetic biology – joy mixed with dread
The University of Oslo Library, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board and the Fritt Ord Foundation invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Tuesday, 7 December 2010, from 3.15 - 5.15 p.m.
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
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8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
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8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
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1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
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10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
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18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
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30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
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22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
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12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
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10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
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6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
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30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
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23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
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19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
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15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
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8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
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17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
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2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
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11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
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13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
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29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Drew Endy is the man who is turning gene technology on micro-organisms into public property. He is a biological engineer and one of the founders of BioBricks, i.e. biological modules of DNA that contain genes that imbue micro-organisms with specific properties.
The panel discussion will feature Sissel Rogne, director of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, Inger Sandlie, professor at the University of Oslo, and Erik Tunstad, assistant professor of Science at the Faculty of Education at Vestfold University College and former specialist editor of the magazine forskning.no. Kåre Verpe of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) will be moderating the session.
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29.11.2010
In the spirit of Anna Politkovskaya – new reports from Russia
Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta will be at the Fritt Ord Foundation on Monday, 6 December 2010, from 5 – 7 p.m., to speak about their journalistic activities in Russia. Following introductions, they will be engaging in dialogue with Åsne Seierstad.
The book Russia's Lost Conscience by Anna Politkovskaya has recently been released in Norwegian translation. Elena Kostyuchenko and Elena Milashina are currently two of the foremost investigative journalists at Novaya Gazeta. Milashina will speak about Politkovskaya's work in Chechnya and developments in that region since the journalist's assassination. Kostyuchenko will talk about editor Mikhail Beketov who opposed the authorities' plans to build a gigantic motorway from St. Petersburg to Moscow through the forests of Khimki.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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24.11.2010
Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to the world premier of the documentary film Freedom, Similarity and the Muslim Brotherhood at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 25 November 2010, at the Vika Cinema in Oslo. A panel of people involved in the film, including Tarek Heggy, Walid al-Kubaisi and Lily Bandehy, will engage in a dialogue with the audience after the screening. Jon Hustad is moderator. Co-organiser: Agitator.
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
Read more >
11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
Read more >
18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
Read more >
8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
Read more >
8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Has Islam been hijacked by radical extremists who are actively trying to destroy the values on which Western society rests? Should the world be concerned? This film is a personal odyssey through the Muslim world, moving from key intellectuals who have to live with threats from modern Islamism to the top echelons of the worldwide movement known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Author Walid al-Kubaisi is the film's narrator and tour guide. From Yemen to Cairo, from Oslo to Paris, the audience joins him on his travels, gaining unique and revealing insight into anti-democratic forces that have built up astonishing influence in the Western world.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
19.11.2010
Vi var her først! Den gangen Litteraturhuset var lærerskole
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
15.11.2010
Merchants of Culture
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate featuring John B. Thompson on Friday, 19 November 2010, from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
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11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
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18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
Read more >
8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
Read more >
8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
These are turbulent times in the book industry. The description "trapped by an economic downturn and a digital revolution" applies to all those involved in the publishing business, e.g. writers, publishers, agents and booksellers, as they are forced to take a second look at their situations. Based on his new book Merchants of Culture. The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (2010), John Thompson will analyse the most salient development trends in the US and UK book industry, beginning in the 1960s.
His analyses will shed light on the underlying structure of and dynamics in Anglo-American publishing and on why, of the many thousands of new titles published each year, only a handful become bestsellers while others disappear. Thompson's report is the result of nearly five years of research and a series of interviews with key players in the industry.
Read more >
11.11.2010
Forced Christianisation and fundamentalism in Norway 1000 years ago
In connection with the publication of Tormod Torfæus’ History of Norway, volume 4, the Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo on Thursday, 18 November 2010, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Torgrim Titlestad: Torfæus’ description of Norway 1000 years ago, and his importance as an historian in our day; Jon Gunnar Jørgensen: What did the Danish king want with a history of Norway in 1711?; Egil Kraggerud: The Latinists' pain and anguish in the light of Torfæus’ history.
The first three volumes of Torfæus’ monumental History of Norway from 1711 were published in Norwegian (translated from Latin) in 2008. The fourth volume marks the most far-reaching account of the history of Norway thus far, covering the period from about 995 to 1026 in some 500 pages.
Read more >
18.10.2010
Premier of Tears of Gaza
Fritt Ord and Nero Meida invites the public to the premier screening of the documentary film Tears of Gaza at Colosseum kino 1 in Oslo at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 November 2010.
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
Read more >
8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
Read more >
8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
In a rough style, by way of unique footage, the brutal consequences of modern wars are exposed. The film also depicts the ability of women and children to handle their everyday life after a dramatic war experience. Many of them live in tents or in ruins without walls or roofs. They are all in need of money, food, water and electricity. Others have lost family members, or are left with seriously injured children. Can war solve conflicts or create peace? The film follows three children through the war and the period after the ceasefire.
Registration by e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
China – censorship and freedom of expression
What is the situation like for freedom of expression and information and the protection of privacy in China in the light of international commitments? Which direction is technological development moving in, and what impact can it have on Chinese society and on the world at large? Which challenges and opportunities are inherent in the rapid technological development? How do the authorities' changing control mechanisms impact the civil society? Which role can the international community play to promote human rights?
Sharon Hom and Greg Walton also comment on the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo.
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar and debate on Tuesday, 26 October 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo, featuring Sharon Hom and Greg Walton.
Sharon Hom, Executive Director, Human Rights in China (HRIC), New York and Hong Kong
Greg Walton, an expert in information technology, monitoring and censorship, and a blogger: metalab.asia, Newcastle and New Delhi
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Read more >
8.10.2010
Modern slavery in refugee camps?
The prizewinning, controversial documentary Stolen claims that slavery exists in refugee camps in the Western Sahara and that it is run by the liberation movement Polisario. The film has been met with strong criticism, and attempts have been made to stop it, not least by the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara, which is of the opinion that 'Stolen' makes false accusations about conditions in the refugee camps. Human Rights Watch has examined the film's contentions in a report on the human rights situation.
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
Read more >
8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
Read more >
8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
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24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
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10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
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28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
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26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Films from the South and the Fritt Ord Foundation are organising a film screening and debate on Friday, 15 October 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Park Theatre, at Olaf Ryes plass 11, Oslo, featuring the director Violeta Ayala.
Read more >
8.10.2010
Power Shifts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian Polytechnic Society invite the public to three meetings at the House of Literature at Wergelandsveien 29 in Oslo. The meetings will be held on Tuesdays, i.e. 5, 12 and 19 October 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m.
The series of meetings entitled Power shifts will consist of the events Global trends, EU – What now? and The Road Ahead for Norway. Global financial and political power structures are in flux. Which new constellations are emerging? What opportunities are arising? This debate series will turn the spotlight on the consequences of those changes for the world, Europe and Norway.
Advance registration: tel. (+47) 224 26870 or www.polyteknisk.no
Read more >
8.10.2010
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Er det viktig med flere kvinner i realfagene?
There is currently no English translation available for this entry
8.10.2010
Blog – jury's decision on the Fritt Ord Foundation's call for applications
To contribute to a comprehensive exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announced the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers. The call for applications was aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals with no institutional affiliation. This afforded bloggers an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs or to further develop existing blogs.
Applications for funding were accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It was also possible to invite guest bloggers. The jury has looked for bloggers who have taken journalistic and essayistic approaches.
The Fritt Ord Foundation received 219 applications for project funding in September 2010. The jury decided to award grants to 16 applicants.
Read more >
1.10.2010
WRITING COMPETITION ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2011
Our right to express our opinions, and to read, see or hear what we want should not be taken for granted. Throughout history, constraints have been placed on literature, art, music, the press and broadcasting, as well as on religious, scientific and political expressions. The Freedom of Expression Foundation invites young people between the ages of 12 and 20 to explore this theme.
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Read more >
24.09.2010
Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the University of Oslo Library invite the public to a lecture at the Vilhelm Bjerknes Building on Moltke Moes vei 35 at Blindern on Monday, 27 September 2010, from 4.15 - 5.45 p.m.
Prominent mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will be speaking on “Symmetry: Reality’s Riddle”. In 2008, Du Sautoy succeeded Richard Dawkins as professor of “The Understanding of Science” at the University of Oxford. Among other things, he has written: Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature (2008) and Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life (2010).
Read more >
10.09.2010
Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a film screening and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, on Tuesday, 21 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The event will feature Robert Kelley, nuclear physicist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Aye Chan Naing, editor-in-chief and executive director of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
There have been rumours circulating about a Burmese nuclear weapons programme since 2001, when Burma tried to purchase a nuclear weapons reactor from Russia. Now a source from Burma has furnished firm documentation about secret projects: the building of a reactor, the enrichment of uranium and the designing of an atomic bomb. The Fritt Ord Foundation will be screening the new investigative documentary film Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions, produced by DVB and followed by a debate revolving around the general elections in Burma on 7 November this year.
Read more >
18.08.2010
NORTHWAVE – documentary in Norwegian video art
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a seminar at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Featuring Lorella Scacco, art critic, journalist and curator, Rome; Bodil Furu, video artist; Susanne Ø. Sæther, chair.
Lorella Scacco has recently published the book Northwave. A Survey of Video Art in Nordic Countries. The book is the first major overview of Nordic video art. Scacco presents the field from the 1960s up to the present, with the main emphasis on the past decade. At the Fritt Ord Foundation, Lorella Scacco will focus on Norwegian artists who work with social and political issues. Bodil Furu will show cuts from her latest film, Misty Clouds, and discuss the film with Lorella Scacco. The documentary film sheds light on coal-fuelled energy in China.
Read more >
30.06.2010
Blog – call for proposals for project funding
To contribute to a well-rounded exchange of opinions in Norway, the Fritt Ord Foundation announces the availability of MNOK 2.5 to civic-minded bloggers.
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The deadline for applications is 15 September 2010.
The call for applications is aimed at blogs edited personally by individuals who have no institutional affiliation. This is an opportunity to apply for funding to set up new blogs and to further develop already existing blogs.
Applications for funding will be accepted from individuals and small groups of people. It is also possible to invite guest bloggers.
Read more >
22.06.2010
MNOK 2 for literature programmes through public libraries
To help strengthen libraries as literary arenas, this spring, the Fritt Ord Foundation called for applications for grants of NOK 50 000 for initiatives at Norwegian public libraries. The Fritt Ord Foundation received 94 applications, and funding will be awarded to 42 applicants. Collectively, MNOK 2 will be divided among libraries all across the country.
The Fritt Ord Foundation has given priority to innovative projects, and has tried to capture the full range of activities offered by public libraries. The projects receiving support cover a wide variety of topics, from the first Sami book publications to geotourism. The events will take place through many different channels, e.g. festivals, visiting authors, theatre productions, temporary library branches, discussion fora, concerts, reading relays, film screenings, competitions, exhibitions and a lyrical elevator. The initiatives address all age groups.
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West - Sunday, 30 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Sunday, 30 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.30-10.00 a.m.
Keynote Address – 10.00-11.00 a.m.
Shirin Ebadi: 'The Role of Women in Promoting Peace in the Middle East'
Chair and Introduction: Geir Lundestad
Audio – 44 min. - (English and Farsi (Persian)):
Read more >
12.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Fritt Ord and The New York Review of Books welcome you to the conference 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West' on Saturday 29 May and Sunday 30 May, 2010, at The House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo.
NB! The conference is now fully booked.
More information about the conference, the programme and the speakers: www.fritt-ord.no/nyrb
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Programme – Saturday, 29 May 2010
Arrival and Registration – 9.00-9.45 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks – 9.45-10.00 a.m.
Francis Sejersted: 'Human Values in Scandinavia'
Audio – 11 min. (English):
Education and Humanist Values – 10.00-11.30 a.m.
Panelists:
Andrew Delbanco: 'Education: For Whom? For What?’
Ingrid Rowland: 'Waiting for the Barbarians'
Lars Løvlie: 'The Promise of Education'
Chair: Robert Silvers
Audio – 85 min. - Session 1 (English):
Read more >
10.05.2010
Presentation speech for the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
10 May 2010
It is a pleasure for me to welcome all of you to this ceremony to award the Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize for 2010 to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja. I would like to extend a special welcome to the prize laureates.
Norway has become a multi-cultural society. The integration or assimilation into society of various cultures has high priority on the political agenda. We must not, however, be tempted to think that integration as a political objective is anything new. Every society will have groups or minorities that are more or less integrated. In our modern history, i.e. during the nation-building period from the 1600s and up to today, the integration of the different groups into one united nation has been a high-priority political goal. Looking back some 100 years, for example, the working class was by and large a nation within a nation, but it became integrated. Although some would contend that social classes have not disappeared entirely, today Norway is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world in economic terms, and we can rightfully be proud of this.
Read more >
10.05.2010
The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West
May 29–30 2010, The House of Literature, Oslo
Our conference, 'The Hope for Humanism: Within the West, Beyond the West', will be a major international event bringing together distinguished panelists from the academy, the media and politics, and from both sides of the Atlantic. The conference will be held in collaboration with The New York Review of Books, and will take place in Oslo over the weekend of May 29–30 2010.
Featuring: Marcia Angell, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, Ronald Dworkin, Shirin Ebadi, Jan Egeland, Haleh Esfandiari, Timothy Garton Ash, Ole Hanseth, Charlotte Haug, Simon Head, Lars Løvlie, Geir Lundestad, Michael Massing, Arnold Relman, Max Rodenbeck, Sissel Rogne, Ingrid Rowland, Tom Segev, Francis Sejersted, Richard Sennett, Robert Silvers, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Read more >
6.05.2010
The Freedom of Expression Prize for 2010 is awarded to Bushra Ishaq and Abid Q. Raja
Press Release, 25 March 2010
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
The Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation cites the following reasons:
”With her firm grounding in the Muslim faith and community, and with her reasoning and bridge-building approach, Bushra Ishaq has helped further a general understanding of what it means to live in today's multi-cultural society.”
”Abid Q. Raja has created arenas for dialogue meetings on topics of importance for the public debate. He has been an energetic social commentator at a time of conflict.”
The Freedom of Expression Foundation Prize is the institution's highest distinction. The prize includes an award of NOK 200 000 to each laureate. The prize is accompanied by the Freedom of Expression Foundation statuette made by Nils Aas.
Read more >
28.04.2010
Norwegian encyclopaedia on the Internet!
The Fritt Ord Foundation and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the DnB NOR Savings Bank Foundation) invite the public to an open meeting to discuss the encyclopaedia issue on Thursday, 6 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Stratos in the Folketeaterbygningen at Youngstorget 2 in Oslo.
The topic for the meeting is how Norway can make its knowledge base available to everyone. A new situation emerged when Kunnskapsforlaget Publishing House expressed its desire to give Norway's leading encyclopaedia "Store Norske" to a foundation. Norway needs an update-to-date, user-friendly, quality-assured encyclopaedia to showcase knowledge produced by science and industry, working life and cultural life. The authorities in Norway should follow Sweden's example and provide support for such a basic channel for public information. Norway should put a new lexical infrastructure into place in an effort to promote information, education and debate.
Lecture by Professor Francis Sejersted, Chair of the Board of the Fritt Ord Foundation: "About the need to further develop Store Norske"
Read more >
26.04.2010
The Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010
The winners of the Fritt Ord Competition for Young People 2010 were announced on Friday, 23 April, at a ceremony at the Norwegian Technical Museum in Oslo.
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
1st prize: Kjersti Skaaraaen Herberg, Gjøvik Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Climate Change Coverage in British Newspapers" (pdf)
2nd prize: Ida Bang Strand, Ringerike Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Coverage of the war of the damned – an analysis of Russian journalists' freedom of expression in Chechnya" (pdf)
3rd prize: Ulla Svalheim, Tvedestrand Upper Secondary School, for the essay "Society reflected in children's TV?" (pdf)
First prize is a grant for NOK 10 000, second prize for NOK 8000 and third prize for NOK 7000. The prizes also include a trip to Strasbourg, where the three prize-winners will visit the EU parliament, the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more >
30.03.2010
Preview screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’
The Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a screening of the documentary film ’Russian Lessons’ on Monday, 19 April 2010, 5.45 p.m. – 8.30 p.m., at Saga Cinema (theatre 4), Stortingsgt. 28, Oslo. Director Andrei Nekrasov will give a brief introduction prior to the film and take questions from the floor after the screening.
Registration: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Film-makers Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya investigate Russia's warfare in Georgia in the autumn of 2008 in ’Russian Lessons’. The two Russian directors were on opposite sides of the front lines during the Russian-Georgian war and this is the point of departure for a personal odyssey through war, politics, political culture and history. This war has been enveloped in a mine field of propaganda and emotional manipulation.
Read more >
23.03.2010
Translation impacts
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the Petrusjka Association invite the public to the opening of Russia Week, featuring the seminar ”Translation impacts" from 9.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Monday, 19 April 2010, at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
How does a translation impact on the translator, the author, society and the rest of us?, with Alf B. Glad, Lars Saabye Christensen, Elena Tkachanko, Bernhard L. Mohr, Olav Nils Thue, Olga Drobot, Audun J. Mørch, Ingunn Lunde, Dina Roll-Hansen and Peter Normann Waage.
In collaboration with Cappelen Damm Publishing House, Petrusjka is publishing a series of volumes of contemporary Russian literature. The first three titles will be launched during Russia Week: A wake for Soviet literature and Life with an idiot by Viktor Jerofejev, The time is night by Ljudmila Petrusjevskaja and Underground – or a contemporary hero by Vladimir Makanin.
Read more >
19.03.2010
Weather Report – What Can We Do?
The Fritt Ord Foundation has invited Jostein Gaarder, Frederic Hauge and Bjørn Lomborg from Scandinavia to join American writers and researchers in a panel discussion entitled “Weather Report –What Can We Do?” in New York City on 29 April 2010. The event is being co-organised by the PEN American Center, The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be the venue for the PEN World Voices Festival. James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Andrew Revkin and Cynthia Rosenzweig will be participating from the US. Robert Silvers will be moderator.
The programme for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature includes: As part of our continuing collaboration with The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Freedom of Expression Foundation of Norway, we are pleased to present a major transatlantic conversation about the latest on global warming, the Copenhagen climate talks, and policy options for the future.
Read more >
15.03.2010
Russia Week
Few countries can claim literary traditions as great as those of Russia. Not many writers have left such profound legacies as Dostoevsky, Gogol and Chekhov. The Soviet avant-garde has inspired generations – but who is carrying on these traditions today?
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
To put contemporary Russian literature on the map, the Petrusjka Association will be organising Russia Week from 19 – 24 April 2010. Venues: The Fritt Ord Foundation, Uranienborgveien 2, and the House of Literature, Wergelandsveien 2, both in Oslo.
Read more >
8.03.2010
The dissemination of literature through libraries 2010-11
To help strengthen libraries as arenas for literature, the Fritt Ord Foundation is announcing grants of NOK 50 000 earmarked for initiatives at public libraries in Norway.
This call for applications is aimed at initiatives to be implemented under the auspices of public libraries in Norway, possibly in cooperation with other institutions and/or organisations. The individual public library can decide on the topic/theme and type of initiative they would like, but the promotion of non-fiction or fiction literature should be the focal point. Activities may include seminars, visits from authors, debates, lectures, exhibitions or storytelling events. The programme should target the general public.
The Fritt Ord Foundation aspires to stimulate the promotion of literature and to promote interest in reading and literary debate.
Read more >
17.02.2010
Media crisis? New financing?
Fritt Ord invites the public to a debate meeting on the consequences of the medias' difficult financial situation, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, 1 March 2010 at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
We will be asking questions such as: How serious is the crisis, and for whom? Is the future of high-quality journalism in jeopardy? Should the authorities intervene? What is the Media Support Committee doing? What would it suggest? What should it suggest? Should press subsidies be changed to project support based on individuals? Should newspapers' dispensation from VAT be expanded or curtailed? Should the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) be entitled to advertise on the Internet?
At the meeting, Yngve Slettholm, chair of the Media Support Committee, will talk about the Committee's work and then answer questions. Henrik Stener Pedersen will speak about the Danish Media Support Study. Henrik Bastiansen will ask: ”Where are the media headed?”. And a well-diversified panel consisting of Eli Skogerbø (Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo), Sven Egil Omdal (Stavanger Aftenblad), Bjørgulv Braanen (Klassekampen), Thomas Spence (Norwegian Union of Journalists), Marit Aschehoug (Norwegian Specialized Press Association), Stig Finslo (Norwegian Media Businesses' Association) and Arne Krumsvik (Media Support Committee), will shed light on the media situation from their different vantage points.
Read more >
2.02.2010
Fritt Ord has provided support for Oscar nominee ‘Burma VJ’
Press Release, 2 February 2010
The Fritt Ord Foundation, Oslo, has provided support for the production of the documentary film ’Burma VJ’ and the network of video journalists (VJs) inside Burma that has filmed most of the material used in the film nominated for an Oscar in the category 'best documentary feature'.
The Fritt Ord Foundation hosted the premier of ’Burma VJ’ in Norway on 12 January 2009, in collaboration with the media organisation the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), the main producer Magic Hours Film of Denmark, and the co-producer Mediamente of Norway. The documentary film was directed by Anders Østergaard.
Read more >
11.01.2010
The Power of Communication. Changes and Challenges in African Media
Winston Mano, University of Westminster, Wallace Chuma, University of Cape Town, and Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo University College, and others, on the media situation in Africa, focusing on democracy, independent media, ICT and development: 'The media and the crisis in Zimbabwe', 'Scenarios for the media trend in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Mozambique' and 'South African media under Zuma and in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup'.
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009
The future of democracy – private affluence and political control state?
This past autumn, British journalist John Kampfner published a book on authoritarian regimes and nouveau riche capitalism entitled Freedom For Sale – How We Made Money and Lost Our Liberty.
Based on the Singapore model, he discusses trends in China and Russia, but also new control tendencies in Western democracies such as Great Britain, not least as a result of the war on terror. What is it that makes economic development get people to relinquish their political freedom? Is this a question that also challenges contemporary Norwegian society?
Fritt Ord Foundation invites the public to a lecture and debate at Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, 23 November 2009.
Read more >
29.10.2009
Chinese media – strong commercialisation and political control
Fritt Ord Foundation and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invite the public to a seminar on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, from 12.30–5.30 p.m. at Uranienborgveien 2 in Oslo.
Read more >
13.11.2009